Cllr John Gallahue (left), the new Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council, with Leas Cathaoirleach, Cllr Frances Foley. Picture: Dave Gaynor

Fianna Fáil councillor, John Gallahue, has been elected as the new Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council at a meeting this Monday.

The 67 year old Ballylanders resident—who is a former lecturer and chairman of the governing body at Limerick Institute of Technology—was first elected as an independent councillor nearly 10 years ago.

“I was delighted and very privileged to be elected and I’m really looking forward to the term ahead,” he said.

Cllr Gallahue added that he has particular aims for his year in leadership and hopes to boost housing in the county as well as forge stronger links with the city council.

“I think with the economic stringency out there it’s very important to build and provide houses for young people, whether it’s by affordable housing or rent. We would have to do this in conjunction with the construction industry but I believe that we have some of the finest builders and developers in the country here in the mid-west so I’m confident that we can achieve our goals,” he said.

“We’re all proud Limerick people whether we live in city or county. I was just talking on Limerick’s Live 95 FM about the issue of a possible boundary extension. People tend to hear that and go into bunker mode because it conjures up visions of taking something from someone else like some Cromwellian land grab. We’ll come together and ensure that whatever is done will benefit everyone and we’ll try to do it as quickly as possible.”

He also said that he wanted to impress upon all colleagues to “temper our public utterances to ensure that we’re not causing offence” to authorities or hardworking council staff.

Cllr Gallahue took over from party colleague, Kevin Sheahan, to become Fianna Fáil’s third Limerick county cathaoirleach since 2004.

His Fianna Fáil party colleague, Francis Foley, was elected as leas- cathaoirleach.

City Mayor John Gilligan congratulated Cllr Gallahue on behalf of the council while Cllr Pat Kennedy also called him an “outstanding public representative”.

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