Cllr Cora Harvey will today become the first Sinn Fein Mayor of Donegal since 1923

Cllr Cora Harvey will today become the first Sinn Fein Mayor of Donegal since 1923, with her party colleague Cllr Padraig Mac Lochlainn expected to be confirmed as her deputy.
This is part of a new agreement between the non-Fianna Fail members, which will see the chair going to Labour, Fine Gael and the Independent bloc over the following three years.
That represents confirmation that the previous agreement is dead.
This time last year, Fine Gael were effectively frozen out when  Fianna Fail reached what was termed a technical arrangement with Labour, Sinn Fein and a number of Independents.
However, that was seriously compromised at December’s budget meeting, when Mayor Brendan Byrne allowing the budget to be adopted while only Fianna Councillors were present in the chamber. The other party representitives were meeting in another room at the time, and had to be informed by journalists that the budget had been passed.
At the time, Fianna Fail’s whip Cllr Ciaran Brogan told Highland Radio News that the budget fell outside the ambit of the agreement, and the manner in which it was passed would not affect the five year deal. However, that’s not proved to be the case, with Labour, Sinn Fein and the Independents forming a new agreement with Fine Gael, leaving Fianna Fail out in the cold, claiming their trust has been breached.
In that context, Sinn Fein Cllr Cora Harvey will today become only the second woman ever to hold the title Mayor of Donegal.