‘Be sound’ says Lord Mayor as he starts his new role

Be sound and treat people with respect.

That's the motto of the new Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Damien Boylan as he takes up the famous and historic chain of office for the 2026-2027 term.

He was elected at the Annual General Meeting of Cork City Council on Friday, 19 June. He defeated Sinn Féin's Cllr Fiona Kerrins, by a margin of 19 votes to eight, with one abstention.

Also elected was Cllr Gary O’Brien, who has taken up the position of Deputy Lord Mayor.

In a speech accepting the position, Boylan said that it was both a “tremendous honour, and a deeply humbling experience”.

He said that over the next year he plans to focus on a very simple message, “be sound”.

“Every Cork person understands exactly what that means. You won’t find it in any policy document. You won’t hear it in any boardrooms. But you will hear it every day across our city.

“Look out for one another. Give somebody a hand when they need it. Show patience when it would be easier to show anger. Treat people with respect when you disagree with them.

“It sounds simple because it is simple. Yet I believe it is one of the most powerful ideas we possess,” he said.

Boylan was nominated for the position by his Fine Gael party colleague Cllr Shane O’Callaghan.

He praised Boylan’s commitment to Fine Gael, but also his ability and desire to work with councillors from other parties to achieve “what’s best for Cork”.

“It doesn’t matter to Damien what political persuasion you are, he’s not interested in scoring political points against other parties.

“What matters for Damien is that you are willing to work with him to achieve the best result for Cork and the people he represents,” he said.

He also said that he had heard from a “very very reliable source” that Boylan first expressed his desire to be Lord Mayor to his parents at age 10.

“So if that’s true, it’s been a long, long time coming,” he said.

Boylan was seconded to the position by Fianna Fáil’s Colm Kelleher who recounted an anecdote in which both he and Boylan had appeared together on RedFM in which the conversation got “heated”.

However, he said that after the segment ended, he received a call from Boylan in which he said “listen, how do we sort this?”

“He let nothing simmer or fester, and I believe it’s that attribute, his problem solving, that will inevitably…be one of the most fitting attributes that he will bring to the office,” he said.

This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.