Cllr Mattie Ryan elected Cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council

Photo: Tipp FM/Sarah O' Dwyer

Cllr Mattie Ryan has been elected as the new cathaoirleach of Tipperary County Council.

The Fianna Fail representative from Kilcommon was elected by 23 votes to 14, with 2 absent and one abstention.

Meanwhile, Fine Gael’s Michael Murphy was chosen as leas cathaoirleach.

Fianna Fails Michael Smith had been set to take over as Cathaoirleach, as part of the party’s pact with Fine Gael, however, Cllr Mattie Ryan put his name forward and got the backing of the majority of his Fianna Fail colleagues.

The Kilcommon based councillor was also elected Nenagh municipal district chair last week, and has been on the council since 1991.

In the end Cllr Smith wasn’t proposed with the Roscrea representative voting for Mattie Ryan.

Councillor Jim Ryan was put forward by some of the Independents and backed by the 4 Sinn Fein representatives but failed to get enough support.

Sinn Feins David Doran suggested what had happened within the Fianna Fail party was ‘treacherous and undemocratic’ while Martin Browne questioned what he described as the ‘charade’ of the pact between the two main parties.