Election of Lord Mayor of Cork won't happen in City Hall 

City Hall venues are being used as mass vaccination centres

Fianna Fáil is next in line for the chain of office and its nominee to contest the mayoral election is expected to be Ballincollig-based Cllr Colm Kelleher.

The next Lord Mayor of Cork will be elected off City Hall’s historic campus for the first time because its concert hall is being used as a mass vaccination centre.

Fianna Fáil is next in line for the chain of office and its nominee to contest the mayoral election is expected to be Ballincollig-based Cllr Colm Kelleher.

City officials are now trying to identify a suitable venue to host the city council’s annual general meeting (AGM) next month, during which the mayoral election takes place, while mindful of the public health guidelines and restrictions that may be in effect at that time.

The AGM is normally held in City Hall’s historic council chamber. But last year’s AGM, during which Fine Gael Cllr Joe Kavanagh was elected mayor, was held in City Hall’s concert hall to facilitate social distancing. It was the first mayoral election outside the council chamber.

That meeting was closed to the public and its duration was capped to adhere to public health guidelines.

Earlier this year, the concert hall and the adjoining Millenium Hall were adapted for use by the HSE as a Covid-19 mass vaccination centre.

It is expected that both halls will be required by the HSE for up to six more months.

A spokesman for the council said because the council chamber and its two main halls are not available for meetings, it must now find a suitable venue for next month's AGM.

It is extremely rare for the city council to hold a meeting off City Hall's campus.

In April 2011, it held a special meeting, chaired by then Lord Mayor Michael O’Connell, in the North Monastery Secondary School, to mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the school.

The council unanimously passed a motion of congratulations to the school on its bicentenary.

Mr O’Connell said it was “a special privilege” for him as a past pupil to recognise the contribution the school has made to the political, cultural, sporting and economic life of the city and the country as a whole since its foundation in 1811.