FF choose O’Sullivan for by-election

Fianna Fáil has selected current county councillor Padraig O’Sullivan in the battle for the vacant Cork North Central seat who had stiff competition from two well-known and popular sitting city councillors - Kenneth O’Flynn and Tony Fitzgerald. 

The seat was left vacant by Billy Kelleher after he was elected as an MEP during May’s elections. Cllr O’Sullivan was recently elected to the Cobh electoral area with over a 25 per cent share of the vote.

As a teacher by profession, he said he has a keen interest in education and will be making it one of his key priorities. 

He said: “At this time of the year I am keenly aware of the costs faced by parents in sending their children back to school and I believe we must find a better way forward instead of parents having to put themselves into debt.

“I am heavily involved with the Little Island Community Association, am a director of the Glanmire Area Community Association and have been involved in local soccer for many many years.” 

He currently serves on the Roads and Transport SPC and the Planning SPC in Cork County Council, as well as being a member of the Cork ETB. 

He added: “In Cork, we have a stalled Dunkettle Interchange, an events centre which has seen a litany of false promises and deferral after deferral and the North Ring Road, probably the most important piece of infrastructure for the northside to develop has been put on the back burner for far too long.

“I look forward to building on the strong performance of the party in the recent local elections and securing a seat for Fianna Fáil in the next general election,” he concluded.