Niall Ó Donnghaile

Niall Ó Donnghaile is the 56th and current Lord Mayor of Belfast. Ó Donnghaile is a Sinn Féin councillor for the Pottinger ward in Belfast East.^[1] Ó Donnghaile was educated through the Irish Medium Sector and is a Politics Graduate and fluent Irish speaker. A fulltime Sinn Féin councillor Ó Donnghaile was previously employed as the party's Press Officer in the Northern Ireland Assembly.^{[2] [3]} Ó Donnghaile is also a community worker in the Short Strand, the area in which he was born and is a member of the Short Strand Partnership Board.^[4]

Ó Donnghaile works with various other organisations across the constituency on issues such as the developments at Titanic Quarter and Sirocco Quays, as well as strongly in support of residents on the issue of the proposed runway extension at Belfast City Airport.^[5]

Youngest Lord Mayor

Ó Donnghaile made headlines after he became Lord Mayor of Belfast in June 2011 as at the time of his election at the age of 25 he is the youngest ever Lord Mayor of Belfast City.^[6]

Personal life and Controversy

A GAA enthusiast, Ó Donnghaile is known to be an avid follower of the County Down GAA team. The Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Belfast upset a DUP councillor by removing a portrait of the Queen Mother from the Lord Mayor's parlour. O'Donnaighle replaced the image with a copy of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic. This remains on display in the Lord Mayor's parlour alongside a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.

He was also criticised on 1 December 2011 after he failed to present a Duke of Edinburgh award certificate to an Army cadet force member. Mr Ó Donnghaile said he was told "at the last minute" that an award was to be presented to a cadet force member. Mr Ó Donnghaile said he would be happy to meet the cadet and her family to explain his decision. He said it was "nothing personal...In order to avoid any unnecessary sensitivities to either party, it was arranged for the outgoing chairman of the organisation to present some of the certificates alongside me." ^[7]

References