Cllr Colm Kenny
KILDARE County Council is to face its third co-option for this session after Green Party councillor Colm Kenny confirmed his resignation yesterday (10 March).
“I am, yeah. I’ve notified the party and have talked with Corporate Services, I just have to put it in writing,” said Cllr Kenny, who himself was co-opted onto the Council after the original seat-winner from the 2019 Local Election winner Vincent P Martin was elevated to Seanad Eireann.
Cllr Kenny has cited the difficulty of keeping his seat alongside his full-time job of being a lab technician at Naas General Hospital.
“It is difficult to do, holding down a full-time job, and balance both, and it was only going to get harder this year,” he said, referring to the forthcoming palaver of re-election, which is due in May 2024.
“I’m juggling too many things,” he said.
So far there is no indication who will replace him for the next 13 meetings of the Council, but it is in the hands of the Green Party.
“Entirely, [a replacement] is not my choice, I will leave it up to the [local] branch,” he said.
It is expected Cllr Kenny will formally announce his resignation at tmorrow’s (11 April) meeting of the Naas Municipal District, but he has already informed his Cathaoirleach Cllr Fintan Brett.
“He resigned on Thursday night from the Green Part,” said Cllr Brett.
“It’s a pity really, because he was a true Green,” said Cllr Brett, who remembered Cllr Kenny cycling all the way from Sallins to Maynooth for the historic County Council meeting held for the first time in Maynooth University at the behest of then outgoing Cathaoirleach Cllr Naoise Ó’Cearúil.
“I never had any problems with him,” said Cllr Brett.
“I liked the guy, and I’m sorry to see him go, he was exactly what was he said on the can,” said Cllr Brett.
“Now, they’ll [the Green Party] have to have someone lined up for the May or June meeting,” he said but neither he nor Cllr Kenny was able to shed any light on who that might be at this stage so far.
Cllr Kenny was later joined on the new Council by Cllr Mark Leigh (Lab) who replaced his party colleague Mark Wall when he got promoted to the Senate.
