For Noel Harrington, the recently inaugurated Mayor of County Cork, the coming year in office is, first and foremost, an opportunity to address the pressing issue of what he refers to as "domestic immigration'.

It is abundantly clear within moments of starting up our conversation that the Castletownbere native is deeply proud of his hometown and has an unwavering belief in what it has to offer.

In fact, it would be no overstatement to say that Noel Harrington is Castletownbere through and through. The 37 year old was born and raised in the West Cork town, where he still resides to this day. The local Post Master since 1992, his involvement within the community stretches from his strong association with the local GAA club to his other prominent role of elected Fine Gael County Councillor, a position his father also once held.

"Politics was always in the family home," he told the Cork Independent, fresh from assuming the role of Mayor of County Cork. "I would say that, for the most part, we were probably more politically aware rather then politically active. My father Donnie Harrington actually served as a Fine Gael member of Cork County Council from 1974 until his death in 1981. My mother became more involved and active from there on in.

"I followed in my father footsteps when, in 1999, Fine Gael asked me to run in the local elections after Michael Harrington retired. I had been running the post office for seven years at that stage and during that time I naturally became more involved in the local community and issues that were affecting the region.

"So I felt it was my duty when Fine Gael asked me to run. There was no payments at that time and it could be very demanding of your time, but by the way I saw was that if you don't get involved you'll only end up losing out. The people of the Bantry electoral area thankfully voted me onto Cork County Council in June 1999, and I was subsequently re-elected in 2004. I must say I've been well supported over the years and I'm hugely grateful to my wife, my family, my hard-working staff, loyal supporters and friends for their help."

Despite the demands of being the towns Post Master, a local representative and his new role of Mayor, the husband (to nurse Catherine) and father of two (Cormac, 6 and Declan, 4) still finds time to line-out for the Castletownbere Junior Football team. It is, he says, a deep passion, and one which he has indulged in since his school days. "I've always been into the GAA, particularly the football and I've played at every level for the club. I suppose the highlight would have been getting a Senior County Medal in 1997. I'm currently assisting in the local intermediate team as well as lining out for the Juniors."

But as much as he enjoys lining out for his local team, it's the locality and its prosperities that is of most importance to Noel. Asked what he hopes to achieve during his term as Mayor of County Cork and he responds without a moments hesitation, "Every move that I make, every decision that's taken – it all comes back down to one thing - will this help in some way to maintain and regenerate rural populations? That's my scope.

"Here in Castletownbere we are two hours from the nearest port and airport. So, in that regard Castletownbere is self-sufficient. The reality at the moment is that if you can't make a living here then you can't live here. It's as simple as that. The biggest challenge facing Castletownbere is trying to keep the younger people here. It's been the case for years now that they go off to college in Cork or Limerick or Dublin. They used to leave on the Sunday and be back for the weekend. That's gradually changed over time. Now they are staying in these urban areas, which is fair enough because that's where the opportunities exist. I call it domestic immigration. But it has reached the point now where we might only see friends once every three or four months."