Lord Mayor | Councillor:

I had the privilege to have served as a member of Cork City Council between 1995 and 2007, serving as Lord Mayor in 2003/2004.

During my time on the Council, I served for various periods Chairperson of Arts Committee, the Housing Committee, the Environment Committee and the Planning and Development Committee.. I also served on the Board of the Port of Cork.

As well as the day-to-day functions of Lord Mayor, during my period in office, was involved in the following initiatives:

• Initiating The Community Award Scheme for Clubs and Voluntary Organisations in the City.

• Travelling to Kenya in August 2003 to meet with volunteers from Goal, Concern, the Sisters of Mercy and other agencies working in that area.

• Producing a video from the Kenya visit which was distributed to all of the schools in Cork City prior to the Lord Mayors visit, the theme of the video was to encourage young people to support and assist the voluntary agencies who are working to improve the lives of people in Third World countries.

• Commencing negotiations in Shanghai to establish a twinning arrangement with Cork and also an arrangement between University College Cork and two Universities in Shanghai.

• Hosting the Lord Mayor’s Ball

• Nominating and presenting the Freedom of Cork City to John Hume in recognition of the valuable contribution he had made in bringing about the Peace Process in Northern Ireland.