Fingal County Council welcomes new councillor to ranks

Fingal County Council has welcomed a new councillor to their ranks.

Kate Relihan has been co-opted onto Fingal County Council to replace Solidarity colleague Helen Redwood.

In August, it was reported that Redwood, who represented the Castleknock constituency, was stepping down from the council seat she inherited from TD Ruth Coppinger.

Redwood said she was stepping down from Fingal County Council for health reasons.

Relihan, a teacher in the Dublin 15 area, will now serve the rest of the mandate won by Coppinger in the 2024 local elections.

Relihan said, “I’m honoured to have been chosen by Solidarity to be a councillor in the Castleknock ward on Fingal County Council.”

She said, “I must sincerely thank Helen Redwood for her service on the Council and to acknowledge the very hard decision she had to make to resign for serious health reasons. We all wish Helen a full recovery.”

Relighan said, “I’ve lived, worked as a teacher and raised a family in Dublin 15. I look forward to representing the people of Castleknock, Clonsilla and Blakestown-Mountview on all the key issues.

Discussing her priorities as a councillor, she said that the need for affordable and social housing was high on her list.

“No priority is more pressing than the need for affordable and social housing for workers, disabled people, older people and, of course, young people who are living with their parents into their 30s and emigrating in droves. This is particularly evident in the Castleknock ward,” she said.

The new Solidarity councillor said that Fingal County Council has a “vital role” to play in building on its landbanks so that affordable homes are built to “address the shortage of teachers, nurses and so many other workers.”

“I will work with my colleagues, councillor John Burtchaell and Ruth Coppinger TD, to see that the Dunsink plan fulfils this need,” she said.

Relighan discussed her membership of the INTO, and that her career as a teacher has informed just how serious the lack of childcare, cost of living, and education issues are in the Dublin 15 area.

She also highlighted gender-based violence and rising racism in the Dublin 15 area as issues she will tackle as a councillor.

“Blakestown-Mountview residents have suffered neglect within the Castleknock ward, but Solidarity, myself and Ruth Coppinger TD want to represent and fight for the needs of this community, as we have done over many years,” she said.