Battle with pneumonia forces mayor to resign

ILLNESS has forced Labour’s Fiachra Ó Ceilleachair to resign as mayor of Dungarvan two months before his year-long term was due to end.

Cllr Ó Ceilleachair, who became mayor last June, has been struck down with double pneumonia, and in his letter of resignation to town clerk, Joe O’Flaherty, said he is looking forward to resuming his position as an elected member of the council as soon as he is well enough to do so.

“In the time that remained of my mayoral term, a substantial amount of it would have been taken up by a recovery process which would have hindered my availability,” he said.

“It has been a fantastic honour to serve as mayor of Dungarvan, and I look forward to resuming my council seat in the near future.”

The deputy mayor, Fine Gael’s Damien Geoghegan, has now been elevated to mayor until the council’s AGM in June.

Under an FG/Labour pact, he will then be elected First Citizen for the coming 12 months.

Cllr Ó Ceilleachair’s Labour party colleague, Teresa Wright, steps in as deputy mayor in place of Cllr Geoghegan.

Cllr Geoghegan said it was a very disappointing ending to what had been an outstandingly successful mayoralty.