Councillor Larry O'Toole nominated by Sinn Féin to be Mayor of Dublin

Councillor Larry O'Toole

THE SINN FÉIN group on Dublin City Council is to nominate group leader Councillor Larry O’Toole for the position of Mayor of Dublin when the City Council holds its Annual Meeting to elect the Mayor on Monday evening.

Sinn Féin Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha called on all groups on the Council to co-operate to elect mayors from each group in rotation for the remaining term of the Council as a fairer way of representing Dubliners.

He said:

It is long past time that Dublin City Council adopted best practice in the election of Mayor. At present a pact between Labour and Fine Gael sees them monopolise the position of Mayor of Dublin and if this continues no member from any other group on the Council will have the opportunity to hold the position until the next local elections in 2014.

Other councils in this State operate a much fairer practice where the mayor or cathaoirleach of the council is elected by agreement and each group is allocated fair representation over the five-year term of the Council.

We will be urging Dublin City Council to adopt this best practice from this year and for the remaining term of the Council.

We will be nominating Councillor Larry O’Toole for the position of Mayor of Dublin. Larry would make an excellent Mayor. He is an extremely dedicated and diligent councillor, one of the longest-serving on the Council, first elected in 1999. He has won the respect of councillors on all sides of City Hall and of Council staff at all levels.

Above all, Councillor Larry O’Toole is a tireless worker for the communities he represents. Sinn Féin is proud to nominate him for the position of First Citizen of Dublin City.

Profile of Councillor Larry O’Toole

COUNCILLOR LARRY O’TOOLE has been a member of Dublin City Council for the Artane electoral area since 1999.

In the 2004 and 2009 local elections, he was among the highest-polling candidates in the state. He has lived in Darndale on Dublin’s northside since 1974.

Larry joined Sinn Féin in 1984. He was a trade union activist in the Gateaux factory in Finglas where he led a prolonged strike in 1990. During that strike RTÉ refused to interview him, claiming spuriously that his membership of Sinn Féin barred him under Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act even though he would have been interviewed in his trade union capacity. Larry successfully challenged this in the High Court which ruled in his favour. This paved the way for removal of the Government broadcasting ban on Sinn Féin.