Corrigan and Loughran given Sinn Féin nod for local elections

Cllr Edel Corrigan

Cllr Jim Loughran

Sinn Féin last night selected their two candidates to run in the Dundalk-Carlingford area in next year’s Local Elections.

Sitting councillors Jim Loughran and Edel Corrigan will once again go forward for the vote.

Ravensdale man Jim claimed the fourth seat in the 2009 Local Elections in the constituency while Mountpleasant woman Edel claimed the fifth and final seat.

Cllr Loughran will be aiming for a third straight stint on the council having been first elected in June 2004 after pipping the Green Party’s Neil McCann to the final seat. Meanwhile, this will be Cllr Corrigan’s second time competing in a local election.

So far the other confirmed candidates in the Dundalk-Carlingford area are Fine Gael trio Cllr Martin Murnaghan, John McGahon and Colin Goss.

And now the end is near…

Cllr Jennifer Green

Jennifer Green will relinquish her role as chair of Dundalk Town Council when they hold their annual meeting tomorrow night.

The 31-year-old mother of two became the youngest ever female chairperson of the council a year ago but a quick year has passed since she succeeded the Green Party’s Cllr Marianne Butler in the role.

A Sinn Féin representative, the Mulholland Avenue woman was co-opted onto the council in April 2010 following the retirement of Ian Dooley.

She was only the fourth woman in the history of the council to hold the position of chair. A replacement will be elected at the meeting, with full details to appear on Talk of the Town when a replacement is voted in.

McGahon to take up position in the House of Lords

A relative of a former Louth TD is set to take up a position in the House of Lords next week.

John McGahon, a prominent member of Young Fine Gael in the area, was born in the a political dynasty, with Brendan McGahon serving the county as a TD with Brendan’s brother Johnny and son Conor also having an involvement in local politics down through the years.

John has shown a keen appetite for politics in recent years, campaigning for Peter Fitzpatrick in the 2011 General Election, but it remains to be seen what direction his political career takes from here now that he is moving to the UK following the completion of a History and Politics degree in UCD.

Update: John has clarified that the position is for eight weeks and he will be back in Dundalk by the end of July. He described the move as an “excellent opportunity” and added he was looking forward to it.

John and Brendan McGahon

Source: John McGahon (Twitter)