Nobody shook hands with the elephant

It was easy to tell the experienced councillors from the newbies, writes Brian Byrne. They knew the game. They had their ducks in a row. Agreement as to who would hit which. When. And how.

There was talk beforehand about 'unlikely alliances'. Even that there mightn't be a Mayor elected at the annual meeting of Kildare County Council. But the hands had been shaken long before Friday.

So when well-seasoned Suzanne Doyle nominated her Fianna Fail colleague Fiona O'Loughlin as first Mayor of the new Council, with a record of 'outstanding public service', she could do so with a typical for her sense of confidence. When Fine Gael's Brendan Weld seconded Fiona as someone 'who will provide stability', the deal for the duration was clear. The Civil War is over.

Not that the two parties haven't worked together before in Council. Local politics is nothing if not pragmatic. I last covered the Kildare chamber about a decade ago, and there were many occasions when decisions had been sorted in similar fashion long before they were argued through meetings agendas. Maybe not so much in the last 25-member group, where there was a much more dominant Fine Gael and Labour. Though honestly, I don't know. I've been away too long.

But this new 40-member Council is where the current Government coalition makeup can't manage a majority. There's also the very visible elephant in the chamber. Sinn Fein, a one-person minority when I was last here. But this time with seats in all five of the new Municipal Areas. Winning them handsomely, particularly who will certainly become their star, Sorcha O'Neill in the Naas MA. With the SF domination of Dublin authorities looming over their shoulders, and a sharp, even unpalatable flavour from new independents, there was a pressing reason for the Civil War parties to finally bury the hatchet.

At the opening meeting of the new Council they also showed that their strategy is to try and bury the Shinners in Kildare. In vote after vote for various positions from Deputy Mayor down through a myriad of national and local committees representation, the five SF hands up, occasionally joined by an Independent or two, failed to make an impact. Especially against the practised confidence of Suzanne Doyle and Fine Gael's Darren Scully. Maybe they didn't know that he had been drafted by the party to other parts of the country as a mentor to FG newbies for this election. Stoically, they kept raising their hands anyhow.

A number of committees are to be filled at MA level, and it may well be that the dominant representations on these will be more generous to this new, but significant and disciplined minority. Whatever, even if the Sinn Fein councillors are very much among the newbies, they're also a quick study. And they take the long view.

I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop as this Council finds its feet. It's still the best spectator sport in town. But a deadly serious one for all Kildare citizens who have elected this 40 to represent us. It's a great pity that so few of those bother to follow proceedings from the public gallery (which is maybe why it was designed so small).

Cllr Fiona O'Loughlin said after her election as Mayor that she still has to get to know many of those who faced her top desk at Friday's meeting. I hope I will too. It's not just the Naas MA members who have Kilcullen's future in their hands.

And then, there's that next general election ... maybe the hands for that are already being shaken, too.

Fianna Fáil gets first crack at new Council Mayor

Cllr Fiona O'Loughlin of Fianna Fáil has been elected as the new Mayor of Kildare, writes Brian Byrne. She is a member of the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District.

The Deputy Mayor is Cllr Frank O'Rourke (FF) of the Celbridge-Leixlip Municipal District. The elections were held at the Annual Meeting of Kildare County Council today, the first meeting of the new Council.

Outgoing Mayor Mark Wall (LAB) thanked the previous Council, and also the staff, managers, and outdoor staff, for what they had done for Kildare during the duration of the previous authority. Equally the community groups and other organisations around the county who invited him to their events, which he considered as 'a great honour'. "On my own behalf, and on behalf of the people in the Athy area which I represent, it was great to work with all of them," he said. "I look forward to working in the new municipal district."

His area colleague Martin Miley (FF) responded, saying the Mayor had served with distinction and pride. "It was a pride to the Athy area that you were Mayor, and your neutrality was present throughout." Compliments were also given by councillors from other parties and independents.

Fiona O'Loughlin was proposed as the first Mayor of the new Council by her party colleague Cllr Suzanne Doyle, who said her record of public service is 'outstanding'. Cllr O'Loughlin was elected with 22 votes, against 11 for Cllr Padraig McEvoy, Independent, and three for Cllr Sorcha O'Neill of Sinn Fein.

Mayor O'Loughlin thanked everybody for their support, and particularly those others who had allowed their names be put forward. "I feel it is very important that there be an election, especially at the beginning of a Council."

She noted that her journey to the Mayor position had been 'a very long one', with 15 years of service on Kildare County Council and 20 on Naas Town Council and its previous incarnation. She recalled that her father Jimmy was a councillor for many years also, and there had been an O'Loughlin on the very first Kildare local authority.

"Every one of us here today has come through a gruelling election process," she continued. "I would also like to thank all those who went for election but didn't make it. We're all thinking of them today."

The Mayor said everyone in the Chamber was there with one motivation, to make their county a good place in which to live and work. There are many issues and challenges to be resolved, and it was vitally important that the Council be responsive to the citizens of the county, and address the economic and cultural issues facing it.

She said the Council must also prioritise the support of excellent voluntary and sporting groups, and use the facilities of the Council to help them as well as the families and communities which have been 'hollowed out' by job losses and emigration. "This is a very different council," she concluded. "I look forward to working with you for the benefit of the Council and the county."

The Council's CEO Eamon O'Sullivan said the new Mayor will carry out her duties 'with aplomb and with dignity' and that he looked forward to working with her. He noted that the local authority reforms will 'fundamentally alter the way we do business'. "We in the Council have to make sure that it is reform for the betterment of Kildare. It's an exciting time for this great county."