Mayo County Council elects a new cathaoirleach

MAYO has a new first citizen - Councillor Seamus Weir.

The Independent councillor, from Knockmore, was unanimously elected cathaoirleach at the annual general meeting of Mayo County Council.

Housing and health will be his top two priorities for the year ahead, he told the meeting, held in Mount Falcon Hotel. Progressing the N26 between Foxford and Ballina and the new ring road in Ballina are also high on the agenda.

A fellow Independent, Castlebar's Councillor Michael Kilcoyne, was selected as leas-cathaoirleach, again unopposed.

This means Independents hold four of the five cathaoirleach positions in the county - the full council and Ballina, Castlebar and Westport municipal districts, the exception being Claremorris/Swinford.

Councillor Weir takes over from Councillor Michael Smyth from Swinford who received high praise for the manner in which he led the council during a challenging past 12 months.

This is the second time Councillor Weir has held the chairman's position. He was previously elected to the chair as a Fine Gael councillor back in 2007.

* More on today's meeting in Tuesday's print edition