Kilkenny County Councillor Michael O’Brien has been elected national president of the Association of County & City Councils. He will head the Association which is a network for the 883 councillors in the thirty-four county and city councils in the State.
This is the third time that Cllr O’Brien has presided over the national association of councillors – a record in the modern era.
He has served on Kilkenny County Council for more than 20 years and is well known for his views on local government reform. He has served on a number of national commissions set up to modernise Irish local government.
Most recently as an executive member of the Association of County and City Councils he has had a major input to a significant submission titled ‘Driving efficiencies’. The submission which identifies ways in which councils could could operate more effectively was presented to Minister Phil Hogan as a contribution to the Minister’s forthcoming Policy Statement on local government.
Michael contested the 2007 General Election with fellow candidate Cllr Jim Townsend.
Michael first got involved in politics when he joined the British Labour Party as an emigrant in London. He is one of the country's most experienced local politicians, having served the people of Kilkenny as a member of Kilkenny County Council for 20 years, and as its chairperson on three occasions.
