Lord Mayor, I wish to be associated with the condolences to the family of the late Cllr Dave McCarthy. I only got to know Dave McCarthy on a personal level in the last year.  Prior to that, I read about Dave in the papers and his many, many contributions in getting the best for his ward and the city. He was a hard and tireless worker and I’m going to miss his contributions, his passion for the people he represented and his love of Cork.

As a city, we are slow to celebrate our local heroes, which we need to do alot more. Dave is a hero. He wielded his interest in the city and its sense of place to inspire, provoke questions and the imagination in building a better city for all Corkonians. Lord Mayor there is so much to learn from Dave, whose memory and legacy will be recounted in the weeks and years.

Crowds will come to pay homage to Dave over the next couple of days. Dave was a confident & proud man, proud of what the city has and will achieve & of his family where our thoughts also ly today. In this world, we need more of such confidence, pride and belief – we need to mass produce these qualities, all of which Dave stood for. This is a sad day for Cork, one of its champions is gone.