Considine beats Flynn to mayoral role

The old French proverb Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose (the more things change, the more they stay the same) springs to mind following Councillor Peter Considine’s election as the new mayor of Ennis on Monday evening.
A majority of Ennis Town councillors opted for Councillor Considine’s wealth of experience after 39 years of local government representation to steer the town authority through difficult economic times over the next 12 months.
Fianna Fáil’s sole representative survived an election bid from town council poll topper Councillor Johnny Flynn (Fine Gael) by five votes to four. 
Councillor Tommy Brennan (Independent), with 32 years of local government experience, was elected Deputy Mayor by the same margin after defeating Councillor Mary Howard (Fine Gael), despite a plea from Councillor Paul O’Shea for councillors to vote for “change”.
Although Councillor Johnny Flynn was elected to the town council on a wave of support with an impressive 1,314 first-preference votes back in the 2009 Local Elections, his attempt to become the town’s First Citizen met a brick wall.
Green Party Councillor Brian Meaney emerged as the power broker yet again on the town council.
Councillors Considine, Brennan, Michael Guilfoyle (Independent) and Frankie Neylon (Independent) have consistently voted for each other during contests for the mayor and deputy mayor on the town council. They were previously supported by Councillor Mary Coote-Ryan (Fine Gael) in what has been described as an unofficial alliance.
However, on this occasion, Councillor Coote-Ryan supported her party colleague, Councillor Flynn, who was also supported by Councillor Paul O’Shea (Labour) and his other party colleague, Mary Howard, for the position of mayor.
Councillor Meaney, who was elected to the town council for the first time in 2009, emerged as the key player. He would have had to support Councillor Flynn to ensure he made the breakthrough as town mayor.
However, Councillor Meaney was quick to point out Councillor Considine is the only one of the two candidates to seek his support and he backed him as he felt he brought a cool hand and calmness to any heated debate.
Proposing Councillor Considine, Councillor Neylon said he is conscious of the amount of work he had completed as a county and town councillor, following in the footsteps of his father.
Councillor Neylon predicted Ennis would be in good hands over the next 12 months with Councillor Considine as its First Citizen.
Councillor Neylon fired a warning shot across the bow of Environment Minister Phil Hogan’s plans to abolish town councils, stating local democracy begins at ground level.
This proposal was seconded by Councillor Brennan.
Councillor Paul O’Shea ensured there would be a contest for the post when he proposed Councillor Flynn, who he noted had served on the town council for eight years and secured a very large vote at the last local elections.
“Councillor Flynn would be a wonderful mayor. He is well known in the business and voluntary sector,” he said. This proposal was seconded by Councillor Howard.
Congratulating Councillor Considine, Councillor Flynn pledged to give his support in his work as mayor over the coming months.
Outgoing Mayor Councillor Guilfoyle, proposed Councillor Brennan for deputy mayor on the basis of his wealth of experience. This was seconded by Councillor Meaney, who felt Councillors Brennan and Considine would be a formidable, experienced team and would work very well together in these challenging economic times.
Councillor Flynn proposed Councillor Paul O’Shea, who politely declined this proposal and instead proposed Councillor Howard for the post in the interests of equity, fairness and gender.
Councillor O’Shea said he didn’t know when Ennis had a female mayor or deputy mayor over the last seven years. This was challenged by Councillor Neylon, who pointed out Councillor Coote-Ryan had served in both positions.
Councillor O’Shea said Councillor Howard had completed great work on the Phoenix sub-committee and brought a “common-sense” approach to issues.
“Lets have a bit of change,” declared Councillor O’Shea.
“Lets have democracy,” stated Councillor Neylon.
Councillor Meaney said if Councillor Howard had approached him for his support, he would have given it serious consideration. “This needs planning and organisation, it takes more than just acting on impulse. Politics doesn’t work like that, you have to do some preparation,” he said.
Councillor Flynn said he didn’t canvass any councillor over the last nine years as he felt these positions are decided on the night.