Kearns elected new mayor of South Dublin County Council

Labour councillor Pamela Kearns has been named as the new Mayor of South Dublin County Council.

The Rathfarnham-Templeogue councillor was confirmed at the annual meeting of South Dublin County Council, with Fianna Fáil councillor Trevor Gilligan elected as Deputy Mayor.

Kearns replaces outgoing Fine Gael Mayor Baby Preperdan and his deputy, independent councillor Alan Hayes.

Kearns’ former Labour colleague, now independent councillor Mick Duff, called Kearns’ ascension to the role of Mayor “well overdue.”

Kearns and Duff were first elected to the council as Labour won three seats in Tallaght Central back in 2009, and Duff paid tribute to his former party colleague.

“It’s great to see we’ve got to the stage where we are nominating Pamela for mayor,” he said.

Social Democrats councillor Justin Sinnott said that Kearns has been “superbly helpful” since he was co-opted onto South Dublin County Council.

“Her vote in Tempelogue is phenomenal, and that’s down to hard work. To hold the seat for that long and increase the vote is a testament to the work she puts in,” he noted.

People Before Profit launched a bid to elect their councillor Darragh Adelaide as Mayor.

Backing his nomination, PBP councillor Jess Spear said, “despite all the good work the council is doing in so many areas, it is fundamentally moving in the wrong direction.”

“Thousands of people are languishing on the waiting list; every week, new people come to me, desperate, as they’re worried about losing their homes.”

Spear said, “Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have removed the power of local authorities to set policy, and have continued to double down on their market-driven ideology.”

Councilllor Madeleine Johansson, who is now sitting on South Dublin County Council as an independent following her very loud, very public break-up with People Before Profit in June, still backed her old party colleague, Adelaide for the role of mayor. 

Johansson criticised Labour for working with the government parties, saying “they represent a layer of the middle class that wants a balance between workers and bosses; the consequences of this is a betrayal of the working class they seek votes from.”

People Before Profit found themselves on their own in their vote for Adelaide as Sinn Féin’s and Social Democrats’ councillors opted to vote for Kearns for mayor.

Local People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy has spoken at length in recent times about wanting to build a broader coalition on the left, namely wanting to bring the Social Democrats and Sinn Féin into the fold for a French-style broad coalition of the left; his wish for a unified left hit a wall when Sinn Féin and Social Democrat councillors voted for Kearns over Adelaide.

Kearns received 31 votes from South Dublin County Council members while Adelaide received three.

Kearns receiving backing from Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, independents, Sinn Féin, and Social Democrats councillors reveals one of the home truths of Irish politics at a local level; the party identity is largely secondary, it is about the personal touch.

In her first speech as Mayor, and despite winning a very comfortable majority, Kearns acknowledged the challenge from People Before Profit.

It’s no secret that Labour and People Before Profit have a fraught relationship over the years, with People Before Profit in particular enjoying success on Dublin’s Southside by winning over working-class voters who historically voted for Labour, but last year revealed that the tide is slightly heading back in Labour’s favour.

In Dublin Mid-West, where People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny lost his seat, Labour saw it’s best performance in the seat since the 2011 general election in last November’s general election (although that was largely down to independent councillor Francis Timmons using his personal vote, and he left Labour not long after).

Labour’s electoral comeback was best exemplified by Ciáran Ahern’s victory in the Dublin South-West seat.

Ahern’s victory was largely at the expense of Green TD Noel Francis Duffy and the subsequent Green wipeout on the Southside, but the mere virtue that two shades of red – Ahern and Murphy – were elected by Dublin South-West voters means that there are signs of forgiveness among the electorate that repudiated Labour in the wake of the austerity era.

Indeed, Kearns was Labour’s general election candidate in the 2016 general election, the first after austerity measures were implemented; the 2011 general election saw Labour return two TDs after scooping 36.3% of first preferences.

When Kearns and Duff lined out for Labour in 2016, they attained just 6.5% of the vote between them.

Kearns used her first speech as mayor to dismiss assertions from Spear that Labour has abandoned its left flank.

“We are similar in a lot of aims, but are approaches are slightly different. My job here as mayor is to work with everybody. I hope that we can put aside any residual anti-Labour feelings and work together because we are here to work together for the people.”

“My door is always open, and I hope you make use of it,” she told the chamber.

Kearns said she is “deeply grateful” to her fellow councillors for voting for her.

“It is my intention to execute my role as mayor with fairness, compassion and integrity; to do less would be a dishonour to the great mayors in this room who have come before me.”

Sinn Féin councillor Louise Dunne congratulated Kearns on her elevation to the role of mayor, remarking, “it suits you, sitting up there. You look fantastic in that chair, and I’m over the moon for you.”

“I couldn’t be happier for you,” she said, and said that Sinn Féin were “proud” to support her.

“It’s no secret that we’ve had our political differences over the years, but what stands out more is the common ground we have consistently found.”

Dunne said, “when we come together on our shared values, we are a powerful force for change.”

Fine Gael councillor Vicki Casserly said that Kearns is “the mammy of the council; she is the person we all go to.”

“Above all, you are the biggest cheerleader for this county, and you will continue to make us all very proud.”

Backing her party colleague Trevor Gilligan for the Deputy Mayor role, councillor Yvonne Collins remarked, “if Pamela is the mother of the council, then Trevor is the father of the council, so we certainly have a dynamic duo in charge of the council for the next year.”

Gilligan was confirmed as Deputy Mayor by 23 votes to Spear’s four votes.