Pictures: Here are the candidates seeking your vote in Kilkenny Local Electoral Area

Martin Brett (Fine Gael)
Fine Gael representative, Cllr Martin Brett is seeking a second consecutive term in office. Cllr Brett has 20 years’ experience in public life and has served as Mayor of Kilkenny City five times, most recently in 2019, as deputy mayor on four occasions and leas cathaoirleach of Kilkenny County Council in 2020.

The city councillor is Chair of the Joint Policing Committee and holds a position on the Board of the Kilkenny Leadership Programme. Cllr Brett’s other roles in the community include; co-founder of the Cois Nore Cancer Support Centre, Chairperson of the Lourdes Fund in St Patrick’s Parish and First Secretary of Scanlon Park/the Watershed.

The election candidate spent the last five years at the council table after being in the political wilderness from 2014-19. Upon his return to the city council, the local landscape had changed with the former Borough Council of 12 councillors disbanded and reduced to seven in the Kilkenny Municipal District.

If elected for a new term in the 2024-29 cycle, Cllr Brett pledges to work for the provision of more local housing and the completion of the ring road and brewery site.

The Fine Gael councillor has also prioritised an SETU campus for Kilkenny, make the masterplan for St Canice’s Hospital ‘a reality’ and to ‘continue to improve Kilkenny as a great place to live and work’.