Michael Holland Senior is Roscommon's newest councillor after he was selected to replace the late Anthony Waldron this afternoon.
He was co-opted onto the local authority with 13 of 17 councillors backing him at a special meeting at Áras an Chontae. Waldron died in February and his family wanted Holland, from Ballintubber, to replace him on the Independent benches.
Four candidates had put their names forward - Gail Murray, Mairead Kenny, Ernie Draper and Michael Holland Senior - with the alliance that controls the council opting for Holland. Cllrs Valerie Byrne, Leah Cull and Tony Ward voted for Gail Murray while Cllr Nigel Dineen abstained. Mairead Kenny had previously withdrawn from the selection process while Ernie Draper received no votes. A number of councillors said lessons need to be learned from this cooption process. Speaking in the chamber for the first time, Michael Holland Senior says he would like to name a jetty in on the River Suck Ballymoe in memory of the late Anthony Waldron.
