West Clare businesswoman and former CEO of Ennis Chamber Rita McInerney has been selected to fill the Clare County Council seat vacated by retiring long-serving member Bill Chambers.
Ms McInerney was selected last night by the Fianna Fáil membership in Teach Ceoil in Kilrush to fill the seat.
The Doonbeg woman is the proprietor of McInerney’s Shop in the village and contested the 2020 General Election for Fianna Fáil, receiving just under 7% of the vote share.
She will be officially co-opted to the local authority at its next monthly meeting in January.
Mr Chambers, who served as a member of Clare County Council for almost 38 years, confirmed in the a letter last month that he wouldn’t contest the 2024 local elections.
Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe has congratulated Ms McInerney on her selection to replace Cllr Bill Chambers on Clare County Council.
“Rita has been an energetic political activist for many years and first sought elected office as an independent in Ennis in 2009, and in 2020 was one of my Fianna Fáil running mates in the general election campaign.,” Deputy Crowe said.
“Rita is from a well-known West Clare family, and I know that she will approach her new role with great energy and enthusiasm and I look forward to supporting all of her efforts through my office.
We have two excellent sitting councillors in West Clare in Cillian Murphy and PJ Kelly and now our efforts must be to retain three seats there in the local elections,” the Meekick based TD added.
