Robert Briscoe, only Jewish member of the Parliament of Eire, was elected Lord Mayor of Dublin yesterday. Both Mr. Briscoe and Denis Larkin, outgoing mayor, each received 19 votes in the city council so their names were put in a hat and Mr. Briscoe’s was drawn.
Mr. Briscoe, 62, is a native of Dublin. He has served in Parliament as the first and only Jewish MP since 1927 and has been the first and only Jewish member of the city council since 1928. Mr. Briscoe, a Revisionist during the time of Vladimir Jabotinsky, has been active in the Jewish community of Dublin and has served as president of the Board of Schechita since 1951. He helped found a B’nai B’rith lodge in Dublin two years ago and is a member of its executive committee.
In his speech of acceptance, Mr. Briscoe told his colleagues that his election as Mayor was a “magnificent gesture” that would point out to the world that “in Ireland, at least, there was absolute tolerance and that in this Catholic country a man of faith could have the goodwill of his co-citizens if he deserved it and was prepared to give service to his fellow citizens.”
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