Three set to battle for mayoral chain

THREE candidates will battle it out to become the next Mayor of County Cork, replacing Cllr Michael Creed when he steps down in June.

Fine Gael, which has control of the county council, has confirmed three of its party members will be seeking the nomination at a meeting in County Hall next Monday.

The three are Cllr Derry Canty from Ballincollig, Cllr Gerry Kelly from Glanmire and Cllr John O’Shea from Bantry.

Party sources say it’s currently neck-and-neck between Mr O’Shea and Mr Kelly, with Mr Canty only slightly off the pace in third.

Mr Kelly will be going all out to get the chain of office because it would raise his profile before the next general election. He is preparing to go on the FG ticket in Cork North Central as Bernard Allen’s running mate. Mr Kelly, a secondary school teacher, is a former winner of the Homemaker of the Year award and also won a Guinness GAA Fan of the Year award.

John O’Shea, who was first elected to Cork County Council in 1999, mixes politics with farming. The married father-of-three, who is also a member of the Cork County Vocational Education Committee, is hoping West Cork-based councillors will vote for him in large number. This would give him a slight edge over his rivals.

The party’s 23 members on the council will be asked to vote one, two, three in favour of the candidates.

It is extremely unlikely that one councillor will get a majority on the first ballot.

Mr O’Shea is expected to lead the poll at this juncture, which means that either Mr Kelly or Mr Canty will be eliminated.

Transfers will then come into play. Because Mr Kelly and Mr Canty are both based in satellite towns it is expected that a lot of their votes will transfer locally, rather than go to the West Cork-based representative.