Biography

Lyons is a native of Castlebaldwin, County Sligo, but moved to Galway in the 1970s where he married Myra Mulveen of Shantalla, with whom he had Ciara and Aiblhe. A trade unionist, he joined the Progressive Democrats

Progressive Democrats

The Progressive Democrats , commonly known as the PDs, was a pro-free market liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland.Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Malley and other politicians who had split from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats took liberal positions on...

 in 1986, He was co-opted to the Corporation in 1996 following the resignation of Liam Madden. In 1999 Lyons and his colleague, Paul Colleran, won two seats in the South Ward.

Elected in June 2001, he has stated that his most poignant memory while Mayor is of the Mass in the New Cathedral on Ireland's Day of Mourning for the 9/11 Attacks (in which Ann Maire McHugh of Tuam

Tuam

Tuam is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The name is pronounced choo-um . It is situated west of the midlands of Ireland, and north of Galway city.-History:...

, and many other Irish people, were killed). On 18 September he formally opened the new City Hall. He represented Galway at the International Conference of Sister Cities at Aalborg

Aalborg

-Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen....

, and addressed the Massachusetts State Senate at the invitation of Jack Yunits

Jack Yunits

John Thomas Yunits, Jr. is the former mayor of Brockton, the 4th largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts....

 and Tom Birmingham

Tom Birmingham

Thomas Francis Birmingham is the former President of the Massachusetts Senate. He is widely credited, along with Mark Roosevelt, with passage of a sweeping education bill, the Education Reform Act of 1993...

. He joined the celebrations of the town of Newry

Newry

Newry is a city in Northern Ireland. The River Clanrye, which runs through the city, formed the historic border between County Armagh and County Down. It is from Belfast and from Dublin. Newry had a population of 27,433 at the 2001 Census, while Newry and Mourne Council Area had a population...

 when it received its city status in June 2002.

External links

• http://www.galwaycity.ie/AllServices/YourCouncil/HistoryofTheCityCouncil/PreviousMayors/