Cllr Deirdre O’Brien (seated 2nd from right), having been elected chairperson of Fermoy Municipal Authority, with fellow councillors and Cork County Council staff Lydia Kelly (2nd from left at back), Brendan O’Gorman (2nd from right at back) and Pauline Moriarty (seated 1st on right). (ES)

Although little over four months after being co-opted onto Cork County Council as a replacement for her brother Kevin O’Keeffe TD, Cllr Deirdre O’Brien has been elected as the new chairperson of Fermoy Municipal Authority. 

Replacing her Fianna Fáil colleague Cllr Ian Doyle, she will lead the authority for the upcoming 12 months.

Cllr O’Brien was nominated for the position at this week’s meeting of Fermoy Municipal Authority by Cllr Frank O’Flynn and seconded by Cllr Doyle.

Also vying for the position of chairperson was Cllr Kay Dawson, nominated by her Fine Gael colleague Cllr Noel McCarthy and seconded by herself.

In the vote, Cllr O’Brien won 4-2, with Independent Cllr June Murphy siding with the Fianna Fáil triad.

Full report on this week’s Print & Digital Edition