The Lord Mayor of Cork ( ga, Ard-Mhéara Chathair Chorcaí) is the honorific title of the Chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach) of Cork City Council which is the local government body for the city of

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. The office holder is elected annually by the members of the Council. The incumbent is Deirdre Forde.

History of office

In 1199 there is a record of the appointment of a Provost of Cork, as chief magistrate of the city. From 1273 under Edward I there were Mayors of Cork, the first record of the office (as ''Mayor of Cork'') is in a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

granted to the city by

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to ...

in 1318. The title was changed to '' Lord Mayor'' in a charter issued by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

on 9 July 1900. In a ceremony known as ''Throwing the Dart'', the Lord Mayor throws a

dart Dart or DART may refer to: * Dart, the equipment in the game of darts Arts, entertainment and media * Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero * Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe'' * Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character * Da ...

into Cork Harbour at its boundaries, to symbolise the city's control over the port. This tradition was first recorded in 1759, although it is probably older.

Election to the office

The Lord Mayor is elected to office annually by councillors of Cork City Council from amongst its members. From 1979 to 2014, the position of Lord Mayor was rotated between

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil É ...

and the Labour Party on an annual basis as a result of a pact between the three parties which attracted much controversy and public criticism. Following the 2014 local elections, a

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highes ...

was adopted, which rotated the mayoralty between Fianna Fáil,

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...

, and independents.

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dicti ...

and The Workers' Party did not join the arrangement, and instead nominated their own candidates.

Functions

The office is largely symbolic and its responsibilities consist of chairing meetings of the City Council and representing the city at public events. Apart from a few reserved functions, which are exercised by the City Council as a whole, executive power is exercised by the

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, a council official appointed by the Public Appointments Service.

Notable former office-holders

*John Despencer (1199), first Provost of Cork *Richard Wine (1273), first Mayor of Cork *John Hodder (1656), first Mayor after the Act of Settlement that restored Charles II of England *Richard Covert (1662), first Mayor of Cork from the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

community *

Francis Bernard Beamish Francis Bernard Beamish (5 April 1802 – 1 February 1868) was an Irish Whig and Liberal politician. Beamish was the son of William Beamish and Anne Jane Margaret (née Delacour) and, in 1837, married Catherine Savery de Lisle de Courcy, daug ...

(1843), member of the

Repeal Association The Repeal Association was an Irish mass membership political movement set up by Daniel O'Connell in 1830 to campaign for a repeal of the Acts of Union of 1800 between Great Britain and Ireland. The Association's aim was to revert Ireland to th ...

*Sir Daniel Hegarty (1900), first Lord Mayor of Cork *

Sir Edward Fitzgerald, 1st Baronet Sir Edward J. Fitzgerald, 1st Baronet (24 November 1846 – 22 June 1927) was an Irish politician. He spent several decades as a member of Cork Corporation and was the second Lord Mayor of Cork. Early life Born in Inchigeelagh, County Cork, F ...

(1901-1904), Lord Mayor during the

Cork International Exhibition The International Exhibition (sometimes ''Cork International Exhibition'') was a world's fair held in Cork, Ireland, in 1902, 50 years after the first world's fair held in Ireland, which also took place in Cork. At the time of the exhibition, Ire ...

Tomás Mac Curtain Tomás Mac Curtain (20 March 1884 – 20 March 1920) was an Irish Sinn Féin politician who served as the Lord Mayor of Cork until he was assassinated by the Royal Irish Constabulary. He was elected in January 1920. Background Tomás Mac Curt ...

(1920), first

Lord Mayor * Terence MacSwiney (1920), died on hunger strike in Brixton Prison * Seán French (1924), Cork TD and longest serving Lord Mayor of Cork since the foundation of the state * Jane Dowdall (1959), first female Lord Mayor of Cork * Gerald Goldberg (1977), first Jewish Lord Mayor of Cork

List

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Politics of Cork (city) Lord Mayor of Cork Local government in the Republic of Ireland