Róis-Máire Donnelly: Fluent Irish speaker to become Belfast Lord Mayor

The next Lord Mayor of Belfast is to be fluent Irish speaker Róis-Máire Donnelly from Sinn Féin. She said she will try to win over critics of the language during her 12 months in the top post. "I don't use the Irish language for anything other than my love for it," she said. Donnelly, 30, from west Belfast, is in line to replace Tracy Kelly from the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) as mayor on Monday evening. The post changes every year and it is Sinn Féin's turn to choose the mayor. Donnelly, from Ballymurphy, works as an operations manager in the community sector. During her stint as mayor she is going to take a career break and put planning for her wedding on hold. "I want to do this properly, I want to get out, I want to meet as many people as possible." Her time in office will include the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann - the All-Ireland Fleadh - the world's largest festival of Irish music and dance which is to take place in Belfast in August. It will be the first time the city has hosted the event, which is likely to attract more than half a million visitors. Donnelly said: "I'm really excited about it and it's probably one of the main reasons that I wanted to take on this role. "I