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Fingal County Council
L to R: County Manager David O'Connor, new Deputy Mayor Councillor Peggy Hamill and new Mayor of Fingal Councillor Cian O'Callaghan
# Mayor
Ireland's 'first openly gay mayor' elected
Cian O’Callaghan has been elected mayor of Fingal County Council.
LABOUR LGBT IS welcoming the election today of Ireland’s first openly gay mayor, Cian O’Callaghan.
Councillor O’Callaghan will be Cathaoirleach of Fingal County Council. He was elected to the council for the first time in June 2009.
Louise Hannon of Labour LGBT has said that this “important milestone” celebrates and marks Dublin’s LGBT Pride Festival:
Labour LGBT has strongly supported the election of openly gay elected representatives. Today’s vote is a step forward for the LGBT community.
She said that O’Callaghan is a “talented young politician with a long record of progressive activism on many issues”.
He won today’s vote by 15 votes to three with two abstentions. Councillor Matt Waine of the Socialist Party was also nominated.
Earlier this year Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer publicly disclosed that he is gay, a decision that was praised by his Dáil colleagues. He made the announcement to coincide with the launch of the Fine Gael LGBT.
Buttimer was the third TD to disclose he is gay following Labour’s Dominic Hannigan and John Lyons.
