'He served his city well': Tributes as former Lord Mayor of Cork Joe O'Callaghan dies age 75

Joe O'Callaghan. Picture: Jim Coughlan

Tributes have been paid following the death of former Lord Mayor of Cork Joe O’Callaghan.

The former trade union official and native of Blarney died at Marymount Hospice in Cork City on Thursday following a long illness. He was 75.

He is survived by his wife, Mary, and their four adult children — Daire, Andrea, Vivienne and Cian.

First elected to the then Cork Corporation in 1985 as a Labour Party councillor in the north central ward, Mr O’Callaghan was re-elected in 1991, was elected Lord Mayor in mid-1995, and went on to represent both the north central and north west wards over the course of his political career, which saw him leave Labour, join Fine Gael, and later stand unsuccessfully as an independent.

He lost his council seat in the 1999 local elections and left the Labour Party in 2002 after controversially calling for asylum seekers to be deported, and for a referendum on whether children born in Ireland should automatically receive citizenship.

The following year, he joined Fine Gael and ran unsuccessfully for the party in the 2004 local election but was co-opted to the council in 2007 following Colm Burke’s appointment as an MEP.

He ran unsuccessfully again in 2009 in the north west ward, narrowly missing out on its fourth and final seat, but he was coopted to the council again following the death in 2011 of Cllr Dave McCarthy, who had topped the poll in that ward. He ran again in the 2014 local elections but failed to get elected.

He left Fine Gael in 2019 after failing to secure a nomination to run in that year’s local elections, and ran as an independent candidate, without success.

Current Lord Mayor, Cllr Kieran McCarthy, expressed his condolences to Mr O’Callaghan’s family and friends.

“Joe served a distinguished term as Lord Mayor of Cork in 1995 and will be remembered as a proud and dedicated trade unionist and a tireless representative for the communities he served,” he said.

Party colleague and long-time friend, Fine Gael Cllr Joe Kavanagh, said Mr O’Callaghan was popular across the political divide.

“He was vibrant, full of bounce, energy and vitality and very passionate about his beliefs and his community," he said.

“He also had a unique sense of humour and knew how to make a political point. He could be very forceful about that.

“In his job as a trade union rep, and then as a councillor, he spent his life working with people and solving problems.” Independent Cllr Ken O’Flynn described Mr O’Callaghan as “a respected colleague and cherished friend".

“He served his city well,” he said.

His Requiem Mass will be celebrated at 12pm next Monday in the Church of The Immaculate Conception, Blarney, with funeral afterwards to All Saint's Cemetery in Garrycloyne.