*Cllr Dani Hunter.
A SHANNON woman who is the youngest ever Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon is in line to be honoured in her native town.
In May, Dani Hunter was elected Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon Town Council becoming the first Irish person and youngest person to hold the chain of office. A member of the Liberal Democrats for the past eight years, she was elected to the Town Council in May 2023 and became Deputy Mayor a year later.
Elected representatives for her native town are anxious that she be recognised for her achievement.
Cllr Tony Mulcahy (FG) in a proposal before the Shannon Municipal District called on Clare County Council to “formally honour” the newly elected Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon with a civic reception hosted by the local authority.
Senior executive officer in the Shannon MD, Suzie Clifford explained, “in compliance with Clare County Council’s standing orders, this notice of motion will be forwarded to the Corporate Policy Group for consideration”.
Expressing thanks for the reply, Cllr Mulcahy was confident the CPG would look kindly on the request. “I know her father quite well, she went to school and university here before she went to the United Kingdom and got married”. He added that she’s representing a population of over 30,000 and requested the local authority “write to her good self” to congratulate Dani on the achievement.
Seconding the proposal, Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) stated, “I don’t know the girl, she went to the Comp in Shannon and I went to the Comp around the same time but I didn’t know. It would be a great thing”.
Cllr James Ryan (SF) correctly observed that Dani is representing the area that playwright and poet William Shakespeare hails from.
Dani attended both St Tola’s NS and St Patrick’s Comprehensive, she was inspired by Ms Fitzsimons in primary school to become a school teacher and during her time in the Comp Ms Shannon was her inspiration to become a chemistry teacher.
After completing her four-year chemistry degree at the University of Limerick, Dani went to Bristol to complete her teaching training and secured her first job in Salsbury where she met her future husband. They moved to Stratford eleven years ago.
Former St Tola’s NS principal Joe Walsh who taught Dani in sixth class is remembered as one of her influences for entering politics. “He told us the first thing we do on our eighteenth birthday is register to vote and on my eighteenth birthday the first thing I did after having some cake was register to vote, that was the first bit of politics and inspiration in politics,” she said.
Brexit was the moment to spark her activism. She said it “got the juices flowing in terms of my interest. There is no way I can sit back and say nothing and just be a keyboard warrior, I need to do something and the very small step of registering with the Liberal Democrats over here who I aligned with most at the time and still do”.
She has not returned to her native Shannon “for a couple of years” but is hopeful of paying a visit while she is the holder of the mayoral chains.
