Cork councillor Fiona Ryan resigns 

Surgeries, a difficult pregnancy, and a small baby all contributed to Solidarity councillor's decision

Solidarity-People Before Profit member of Cork City Council Fiona Ryan. File picture: Denis Minihane 

Cork councillor Fiona Ryan has announced her resignation from Cork City Council. The People Before Profit/Solidarity councillor will relinquish her seat from June 9. 

A process is underway to decide a candidate for co-option into her seat over the coming weeks.

Ms Ryan said that while it has been “an absolute privilege” to serve her community, continuing in her current capacity is not possible with an eight-month-old baby.

Ms Ryan had also recently recovered from a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction after she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation, putting her at 60-90% lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. She said: 

The last seven years as a representative of my ward has been a great privilege and experience and I’m immensely grateful to my community for trusting me to be a fighting voice for working class communities in Cork City Council.

“Unfortunately, the past few years multiple surgeries that required a significant recovery period, a difficult pregnancy and now the realities of parenting a young baby have all presented a real challenge to my ability to fulfil that role in the way that I would wish to.

“Looking forward, I don’t see that changing in the short term, so I have taken the regrettable decision to resign my seat.

“My future replacement will be a socialist representative for ordinary people who consistently stands with working class people and will continue to provide a voice for those seeking to challenge the system of enormous inequality that has created so much misery in society today.” 

Ms Ryan said that she would not rule out a return to politics but it “was not on her radar” in the immediate future.

She said that she would remain an activist and socialist campaigner with People Before Profit/Solidarity, “just not from the council chamber.” Although a new law permitting maternity leave for local councillors for the first time came into force this year, it was too late for Ms Ryan to avail of it, she said.

But more efforts must be made to better support parenthood in local government beyond the immediate weeks and months following the birth of a baby, she said.

Although Cork City Council is considering making all meetings available online, that is not currently the case, Ms Ryan said. And, although she could maintain her basic council duties had she stayed, to be truly effective as a councillor means being closely involved with the community, including many late-night community meetings, she said.

Campaigning will also be required next year with a local election due, she said.

“It’s the reality of the struggle of women and working-class women and parents in general," she told the Irish Examiner.

In reality, to properly represent people in a way I want to, it’s just not possible for me in the next 12 months. It’s a real shame and regrettable. But it’s just the reality. 

“I have been proud to be able to provide a platform for the struggles and issues at the heart of our communities including assisting the Leeside Apartments residents in their successful fight against eviction and supporting workers like the Debenhams workers and Cork City Firefighters," she wrote on Twitter.

“Now more than ever, working class people are dealing with the consequences of a housing catastrophe, a cost-of-living crisis and crumbling public services, while the government defends the interests of big business and the super-rich at our expense.

"We badly need a fightback against these conditions and fighting socialist representation in councils and the Dail can play a very important role in that.”