Housing is top priority says new councillor

Marguerite Kiely

Cork City Council's newest councillor, the Socialist Party’s Brian McCarthy took his seat this week, saying that the housing crisis, environmental and LGBTQI+ issues will be at the top of his agenda.

Brian took the seat of Fiona Ryan for the Cork City North West ward after Fiona announced her decision to step back from the council last month.

Speaking to the Cork Independent about his inaugural speech at the full city council meeting, Brian said: “ I was able to set out the issues that I intend to work on. I wanted to underline that only way that we are going to make any progress with the housing crisis is with a mass movement.”

Addressing his goals as a councillor, Brian emphasised that housing would take centre stage, with a particular emphasis on supporting people in resisting evictions. “Since the eviction ban has been lifted, there has been a slew of notices going out, and there’s a huge number of people affected by this. But there are ways that people can resist evictions,” he said.

He also wants to highlight the importance of Pride being adequately funded. “We have people who are far right going to libraries, harassing staff, ripping up LGBT inclusive sexual education books. When there are things like this happening, it’s more important than ever that Pride is supported and properly funded publicly so that we can make it clear that homophobia has no place in our society,” he said.

Originally from Lisgoold, Brian now lives in Cork city centre on North Main St. With a 15 year membership in the Socialist Party, he has actively participated in various campaigns including the fight against water charges, the movement to secure Repeal, and supporting the Debenhams strikers.