Daughter of former Cork lord mayor co-opted onto city council

Former Sinn Féin’s councillor was in chamber to see his daughter Orla O’Leary take her seat

Orla O'Leary has been named by Sinn Féin as the party's nominee to take the place of Cllr Eolan Ryng on Cork City Council.

Sinn Féin’s Orla O’Leary, the daughter of a former lord mayor of Cork, has been co-opted onto Cork City Council to replace Eolan Ryng following his resignation after just over two years on council.

Ms O’Leary, 29, a political activist since her teens, was co-opted on Monday night to represent the party in the South-West ward, where she lives with her husband, Darren, and their five-month-old daughter, Rhea, on the Model Farm Road.

An employee and a graduate of University College Cork, Ms O’Leary holds an honours degree in government and a master’s in public policy and is an employee of the city council.

She was proposed by Cllr Fiona Kerins, who said she was no stranger to politics or City Hall, having worked on the election campaigns of her father, Chris O'Leary, a former Sinn Féin councillor for the South-East ward and former lord mayor, who lost his seat in the 2019 local elections and who has been selected by the party to run in next year’s local elections.

He was among the guests in City Hall’s public gallery as she took her seat.

Ms O'Leary said the Republican principles of Terence MacSwiney and Tomás MacCurtain will guide her approach on council.

It's an honour to have the opportunity to represent people in the community where I live, the community in which my baby daughter will grow up. I'm determined to hit the ground running and to make a real difference,” she said.

She spoke of her pride of growing up in a council estate, and said she was able to make most of her education because of the security and stability provided by public housing.

She said she believed the housing crisis could be fixed with the right policies and with a massive increase in Government funding for both the delivery of public housing, and for housing maintenance.

“We need to see a major ramping up in the delivery of affordable homes to buy and rent in Cork City.

“I believe Cork City Council can and must bring the urgency and pace that's necessary to fix the problem and give young families their chance at a better life and a good future.”