Murnane goes from council chair to Carlow mayor

FIANNA Fáil councillor Ken Murnane was elected as mayor of Carlow at the recent AGM of Carlow Municipal District, succeeding the outgoing first-time mayor, Fine Gael’s Paul Doogue.

Cllr Murnane will swap one chain of office for another as he is coming off the back of a year spent as cathaoirleach of the county council.

Speaking ahead of his election as mayor, cllr Murnane addressed cllr Doogue and said he had “really excelled” in the role and should be “admired” for how well he did in his term.

There was further praise from the floor for cllr Doogue, with cllr Fintan Phelan congratulating him on his term, saying he did his family and the town proud, mentioning his wife Elaine, who was by his side at all events.

Cllr Adrienne Wallace said cllr Doogue had chaired the meetings “diligently and fairly”, while the incoming deputy mayor cllr Andrea Dalton expressed her gratitude to cllr Doogue for his work throughout the year.

Cllr Dalton proposed her party colleague as mayor, adding that he was doing ‘a Fintan Phelan’ on it by swapping the county council cathaoirleach chain for the mayor’s one.

Cllr Phelan, who seconded the proposal, said cllr Murnane was coming off the back of a “great year” in the county council role and quipped that the role switch was like “weaning off the big chain to the small chain”.

Joined by his family in the chamber, including his sister and minister of state Jennifer Murnane O’Connor, cllr Murnane thanked everyone for their support and said it was an “honour for him and his family”.

He added that he is looking forward to working with everyone over the coming year and said he hoped there would be no big arguments.

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