New Mayor of Waterford City and County elected

A Longford native has been elected as the new Mayor of Waterford City and County.

Independent representative, Cllr Joe Conway, who is originally from Ardagh, was elected to the prestigious role after he was proposed by Cllr Joe Kelly and seconded by Cllr Lola O’Sullivan at the AGM of the Plenary Council held in Waterford City Hall on Thursday, June 29.

Cllr Conway becomes the first Mayor of Waterford City and County from Tramore.

He has a long and distinguished career in local politics, having been elected to Tramore Town Council in 2004 to Waterford County Council in 2009 and to the amalgamated City and County Council in 2014 and again in 2019, representing the Tramore/Waterford City west EA.

Cllr Conway also served as Mayor of Tramore for two terms in 2007/8 and 2012/3.

From 2005 to 2009, Cllr Conway represented the Irish local government as a delegate to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Cllr Conway is a graduate of UCD’s School of Politics and has a deep affection for Irish history and An Ghaeilge. He currently serves on the Board of Údarás na Gaeltachta.

Born on May 27, 1953, in a farming area between the parishes of Legan and Ardagh, Cllr Conway is the youngest of six surviving children of Mary (Molly) and William Conway.

After his first and second level schooling in Ardagh National School and St Mel’s College, Longford, he trained as a primary school teacher in St Patrick’s College of Education, Dublin (1971-73).

He subsequently took a B.A. degree in Politics and History at University College Dublin (UCD) in 1980 and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Sheffield in 1990.

Married to Sandra Dunphy, they have three children, Donncha, Ailbhe and Niamh.

Following his election, Waterford’s newest Mayor said, “I feel enormously privileged and honoured to be elected Mayor, following in a tradition that goes back well over 700 years in this astounding and historical city.”

He thanked proposer and seconder Councillors Kelly and O’ Sullivan, his predecessor Cllr John O’Leary, his Council colleagues, Waterford City and County Council Chief Executive, senior management team and fondly recalled those “who may be watching us from a happier place afar,” Davy Daniels, James Tobin, Billy Kyne, John Carey, Dan Cowman and Ben Gavin.

Mayor Conway paid special tribute to his wife of thirty-nine years, Sandra, “an Abbeyside lady who brought me to Waterford and who with me gave to the world and Waterford our three gorgeous kids, Donncha, Ailbhe and Niamh.”

He continued with a “charming adage from President Abraham Lincoln which goes something like this ‘The hen is the wisest of all the animal creation, because she never cackles until the egg is laid.”

Mayor Conway concluded, “Hopefully at the end of my term as Mayor – if God gives me good health – I will be able to look back on a fruitful year of endorsing the commercial, professional and community life of Waterford, promoting our image and products, forging strong relations with our neighbouring LAs (Local Authorities) and our twin cities, cooperating with Government in consolidating the Gaeltacht service town status of Dungarvan, and enhancing our environment by developing our Local Authority Climate Action Plan.”