THE FIRST IRISH citizen to be Lord Mayor of London was sworn in today.

Solicitor Vincent Keaveny, 56, becomes the 693rd holder of the ancient, largely ceremonial office but is thought to be the first Irish person in the position.

Keaveny, a partner at multinational law firm DLA Piper, was born and raised in Ireland. He went to school in Dublin and studied law at UCD, graduating in 1986, followed by a master’s at Trinity. He trained as a barrister at King’s Inns before moving to London in the late 1980s.

The Lord Mayor is the head of the City of London Corporation, effectively the local council for London’s financial district. The office dates back to 1189; the modern Mayor of London, with responsibility for the rest of the city, was created in 2000.

As well as overseeing local government, the Lord Mayor is “an international ambassador for the UK’s financial and professional services sector”, according to the Corporation. Most holders of the office are senior businessmen; only two have ever been women.

In a recent interview, Keaveny said that the Lord Mayor’s office hadn’t been able to uncover a previous example of an Irish person in the post, “so on the basis that it’s going to be very hard to contradict me, I am going to claim to be the first Irish Lord Mayor”.

The Silent Ceremony is underway in the Great Hall at @GuildhallLondon to swear in Vincent Keaveny as the 693rd Lord Mayor of the City of London. pic.twitter.com/IoCAWyo6gX

— City of London (@cityoflondon) November 12, 2021

Lord Mayors are not directly elected, instead being nominated from among the Corporation’s 25 aldermen. The nominee for next year, Nicholas Lyons, is also reported to be an Irish citizen.

The Financial Times reported earlier this year that the eligibility of Irish citizens to become Lord Mayor had been challenged. The rules say that the holder must be a “British subject”.

A spokesperson confirmed to The Journal that the Corporation had taken legal advice on the subject, which “clarified that the 2013 Act Of Common Council does not stop a non-British citizen holding the post of Lord Mayor”.

Donegal man William McArthur was Lord Mayor in 1880, long before Irish citizenship existed.

Keaveny was sworn in at a ceremony at London’s medieval Guildhall this afternoon and will take part in a parade through the city tomorrow, featuring full-size model elephants, Japanese drummers and “the tallest fire engine in Europe”.