Meet the Cork woman who decided on an unusual entry into politics by taking up her daughter's seat
Kate Lynch was co-opted to Cork County Council in April after her daughter Eileen was elected to Seanad Éireann as part of the agriculture panel in February.
Corkman
Teacher turned Councillor Kate Lynch spoke to The Corkman about her journey into politics and how she's keeping a family tradition alive, following in both her daughter and sister's footsteps.
In an unusual step in Irish politics, Kate Lynch was co-opted onto Cork County Council in April to take up her daughter Eileen's vacated seat after she was elected to Seanad Éireann as part of the agriculture panel in February.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Journal
4 hours ago
- The Journal
GAA hopeful for Casement Park funding as part of UK Government spending review
THE GAA COULD receive some good news in relation to the long-running Casement Park saga as part of the UK Government's spending review. At around 12.30pm today, British Chancellor Rachel Reeves will unveil her government's spending review, which sets the budgets for UK government departments over the next few years. The UK Government has indicated that its spending review will be the juncture when it confirms whether or not it will make a financial contribution to help deliver the stalled plans to redevelop the derelict Gaelic games venue. It's been 12 years since a match was last played at Casement, the home of Antrim GAA. Casement Park has planning permission until July 2026 and it is hoped construction can start before then. Funding shortfall The Stormont Executive had committed to redevelop Casement Park in 2011, as part of a strategy to revamp football's Windsor Park and the rugby ground at Ravenhill. Advertisement While the two other Belfast-based projects went ahead, the redevelopment of Casement, which is currently derelict, was delayed because of legal challenges by local residents. General view of Casement Park stadium in Belfast Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo In the time since, the cost of redeveloping Casement into a 34,000 capacity venue has increased significantly. It has been planned that a redeveloped Casement Park would host games at the Euro 2028, but last September the UK Government ended these hopes when it said it would not bridge a funding gap to deliver the redevelopment in time. As well as the Stormont contribution of £62.5 million, the Irish Government has offered roughly £42 million (€50m) and the GAA has pledged to contribute £15 million. But it has been reported that the cost of the project has fallen to £270 million, still leaving a funding shortfall of about £150 million. Ulster GAA's CEO Brian McAvoy last week said he is 'hopeful' of receiving funding in the spending review but acknowledged that any funding would not bridge this funding gap. McAvoy noted that Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn had made clear last month that even if the UK Government does divert money to the project, the sum will not alone bridge the current funding gap. Related Reads How did the plan to redevelop Casement Park fall apart? Taoiseach: Irish government will 'work closely' with UK on issue of Casement Park Hilary Benn: Casement Park will be built 'one way or another' However, Sinn Féin vice president and First Minister Michelle O'Neill said last month that she is 'determined to see it over the line'. 'That means working with the British government, the Irish government, the GAA and all partners who are committed to ensuring that this project gets over the line,' said O'Neill. 'We missed a huge opportunity in terms of the Euros not being able to play and have our part in all of that, and the economic benefit that that would have brought to us all. 'I am determined to continue to work with everybody to ensure that the funding contribution is put on the table so that we can get on with actually building the project.' -With additional reporting from Press Association Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
Irish Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
90-year-old Irish priest on streets of riot-torn LA to 'stand with' immigrants
A 90-year-old Irish priest has told how he took to the streets during riots in Los Angeles to "stand with" immigrant families. Fr Peter O'Reilly, who has been based in California for decades, was one of several clergymen and women who demonstrated against an ICE crackdown on illegals ordered by US President Donald Trump. The retired cleric, who is originally from Co Longford, said ministers from various faiths had originally planned to have a prayer vigil on the steps of LA's City Hall. He told RTE: "The meeting had been cancelled because of the fear of violence so I felt maybe the thing to do was maybe just mingle with the people and wearing my Roman collar, I thought that would be the best thing to do. "To bear witness. To say, 'we stand with you'. "The mood was serious. It was animated. People were talking to each other. Maybe about 15 yards away were the group who set up the barriers, street barriers, which I found out were to be used to protect them from the rubber bullets fired by the police. "They were firing them. I was not near the front, maybe 15 to 20 yards away. "The police were firing them maybe as a warning, do not riot. I had a feeling too because of what the mayor of Los Angeles had said, that this was not an insurrection. "This is a manufactured thing from Washington, to create confusion and bring about violence rather than peace. "With the Irish experience of being discriminated against for many years and knowing the discrimination here in this country against the Irish. I felt there was something personal about where I was, some of these communities and knowing how many of them were marginalised because of the colour of their skin. "These were hardworking family-oriented people, that we needed to stand with them and let them know we were with them and for them."
Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Anja Murray: Radical changes required to let the oceans recover
Summertime is when many of us love taking time out by the seaside. Watching over the open expanse of ocean, feasting our eyes on stunning turquoise depths of each incoming wave, feeling the invigorating freshness of sea air. Walking along the shoreline we might watch and listen to terns, global migrants who breed on Irish coastlines during the summer months, feeding on small fish caught fresh from the surface of the sea, enthralling us with their elegance as they swoop and dive. We might immerse ourselves in the blue-green waters, exhilarating and energising mind and body with the joy of sea swimming. As conscious as we are of our island nation state, we are only vaguely aware that Ireland's marine territory spans more than 10 times our territorial land mass. We are also generally aware of our dependence on the sea for much of our wealth and resources, yet don't tend to consider just how much we impact the health of ocean ecosystems with our activities. For most of history, humans have rightly considered the oceans as being far too large for us to ever inflict much of an influence upon. Everything is ready in Nice, France, for the UN Ocean Conference. Starting Monday, world leaders, scientists and other civil society representatives from around the world will come together to share their perspectives and solutions to #SaveOurOcean. — United Nations (@UN) June 8, 2025 Yet over the past 50 years, it has become clear that human activities are causing life threatening harm to the fabric of ocean life. This is the subject of the third United Nations Ocean Conference that has been taking place this week in Nice, France. As international law and multilateral cooperation are being sorely tested and challenged on several fronts at present, the Ocean Conference is a vital opportunity for international governance and policy to prevail, with the task none other than charting a path to a liveable future for all of us. Oceans, and the life they contain, actively shape conditions for life on land. Marine plankton constitute as much as 90% of life in the open seas and maintain the balance of atmospheric gasses that sustains all the rest of us, including regulating climate by absorbing excess carbon dioxide, moving heat around the planet, and producing the oxygen that all other lifeforms depend on. Plankton of course are the basis of every marine food chain, their distribution and abundance tightly embroiled with the millions of species on both land and in water. Perhaps beginning with hunting whales, the largest animals on the planet, until many species were threatened with extinction, humans started to exert a significant impact on the health of marine ecosystems. Fishing has always taken place, and is not inherently bad for the ocean. But the combination of technological advancements, rapid growth in fleet size and massive subsidies for industrial fishing that have caused fish to be harvested faster than stocks can replenish. Overfishing is now officially recognised as the most significant driver of declines in ocean wildlife, pushing target and non-target populations to the brink of collapse. And lest we think that Ireland is innocent in this, we are one of the worst offenders when it comes to overfishing. On top of these pressures, the oceans have been absorbing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a process that has, until recently, been buffering and delaying the impacts of climate change, but has been causing acidification in marine waters. Ocean temperatures, specifically sea surface temperatures, have been soaring, with about a quarter of the world's oceans experiencing marine heat waves in 2024. Last summer's extreme marine heatwave off the coasts of Ireland raised sea temperatures by 5°C. There is another marine heatwave underway currently. It is hardly surprising that the ecological equilibrium of the world's oceans are wobbling toward a fall. And if that happens, we will all go down. All of this is to say that international cooperation to address the pressures and implement solutions is crucial. This is why the gathering of more than 50 heads of state this week in France, along with scientists, activists, and business executives, is a deeply hopeful event. While many have turned to scepticism about the potential of such UN conferences to chart international agreements that go far enough to be effective, it is worth remembering that international summits such as these are still the most viable way of collectively agreeing and implementing solutions to global problems. These processes are also the only opportunity that small island states have to influence global politics. The UN Ocean Conference has been working to develop international governance and mobilise financial resources for a suite of measures to protect the healthy functioning of the world's oceans. One of the key aspects of this is securing the ratification of the 'High Seas Treaty', a legally binding instrument to protect the high seas beyond national jurisdiction. A moratorium on deep-sea mining is also on the agenda. Many civil society groups across Ireland and internationally have also been focusing energy on the need for a scaling up of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Ireland has made progress in recent years, having increased the area of MPAs from less than 2.5% in 2022 to just over 9% by 2024, though still leaving a long way to go to achieve the EU Biodiversity Strategy target to protect at least 30% of the Irish Maritime Area by 2030. A swathe of marine biodiversity hotspots that are in urgent need of legal protection have been identified and proposed by the Fair Seas campaign, a coalition of civil society groups across Ireland. Another essential component of progressing the Irish MPA network is the long awaited Marine Protected Area Bill. The UN Ocean Conference puts much needed pressure on Ireland, as an island national, to progress long overdue national policy while simultaneously being part of the momentum for urgent multilateral action. Globally, the oceans are changing faster than any time since the ice age. This time, it is human activities that are the agents of the transformation. We, too, are capable of transformation, once we understand that radical change in human activities is the only way we can allow the oceans to recover. For this, the success of international cooperation is a prerequisite, a necessity for a viable future.
