O’Sullivan nephew co-opted to council

The nephew of former Munster and Ireland rugby coach Eddie O’Sullivan has been co-opted to represent Fianna Fáil on Youghal Town Council.

Aaron O’Sullivan, a 26-year-old barrister, replaces neighbour and friend Eoin Coyne, 23, who resigned from politics in May following a term as one of Ireland’s youngest-ever mayors.

A fluent Irish speaker, Mr O’Sullivan sat his Leaving Cert in his native tongue in 2004. He joined Fianna Fáil while studying physics at University of Limerick, and studied law at Griffith College, Cork. He was called to the bar in 2009 following a year at King’s Inns, Dublin. He is a non-playing member of Youghal Rugby Club.

Mr O’Sullivan said he feels “betrayed” by contemporary events in Fianna Fáil but still believed in “the party’s ethos of standing up for the ordinary person and the less fortunate”.

Tourism and small businesses, he said, are cornerstones of Youghal’s future.

“We have great natural beauty and excellent facilities but I believe the core issue is to provide knock-on benefits to tourism by improving the standard of amenities for local people,” he said.

“We have to consider what best structures can be established at a local level to help these enterprises develop and grow, be it rates, rents, grants, [or] parking.”