“The biggest circus show in town” says Joanna Byrne
By Andy Spearman
Fine Gael Councillor Eileen Tully from Baltray was elected to the position of Mayor of Drogheda earlier this evening and Councillor Kevin Callan has retained the position of Deputy Mayor.
The result of this evening’s vote at the Borough District of Drogheda was a foregone conclusion as the Labour, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail Councillors all stuck to the voting pact which has, for years, excluded Sinn Féin Councillors from the position.
Councillor Tully was co-opted to her seat in September 2019 following the untimely death in of that year of her husband Oliver who had served on the Council for many years.
Councillor EileenTully was proposed for the position of Mayor by Labour Councillor Pio Smith and seconded by Independent Kevin Callan.
The only other candidate in the race was Sinn Féin Councillor Joanna Byrne who was proposed by her party colleague Tom Cunningham.
All of the Councillors, apart from Paddy McQuillan who abstained and the two Sinn Féin Councillors Joanna Byrne and Thomas Cunningham, voted for Tully.
It was a similar story in the election of Councillor Kevin Callan as the Deputy Mayor when outgoing Mayor Michelle Hall nominated Kevin Callan and Joanne Byrne nominated Tom Cunningham. Once again Councillors Byrne and Cunningham voted for the Sinn Fein candidate and Paddy McQuillan abstained.
History of a sort was made however when outgoing Mayor passed the chains of office to her successor it was the first time that the position of first citizen of Drogheda was passed from one women to another.
Accepting the role, Councillor Tully said it was a great honour for herself and her family to assume the role of Mayor and she thanked everyone for their kindness.
She pointed to the housing crisis that so many citizens find themselves facing as one area that she will concentrate on and promised to work closely on the issue with Louth County Council Chief Executive Joan Martin and her staff.
Like all of the other Councillors Joanna Byrne priaised the work of outgoing mayor Michelle Hall for the fantastic job she had done representing the people of Drogheda over the past twelve months.
She sportingly congratulated the New Mayor on winning the vote but described the way that the election was stage-managed as “The biggest circus show in town.”
This result is the total opposite of a public poll carried out by Drogheda Life two weeks ago which resulted in Joanna Byrne topping the poll with 26.4% of the vote and Eileen Tully in tenth place on just 2.6% of the vote.
