Galway Bay fm newsroom - Well known Councillor Michael 'Stroke' Fahy has died after a short illness.
The Ardrahan native was first elected in 1979 for Fianna Fail and had in recent months rejoined the party ahead of upcoming local elections.
Caherduff native and farmer Michael Fahy was first elected to the County Council in 1979 for Fianna Fail.
However, he was initially not included on the ticket for that election, and allegedly traveled to Dublin and convinced party headquarters to add him - to the bewilderment of the local grassroots.
This earned him the nickname 'Stroke', by which he was to become universally known.
He proved to be an immensely popular figure and was handily re-elected for Fianna Fail in 1985, 1991, 1999 and 2004.
He later resigned from the party in 2004, serving as an independent while under investigation for the misappropriation of funds from the local authority.
While he served a prison sentence for this in 2007, he remained a County Councillor - and the conviction was fully overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 2011.
During this time, he had been elected as an independent Councillor in 2009 and once again secured his seat on the local authority in 2014.
Councillor Fahy had rejoined Fianna Fail in December, ahead of upcoming local elections in May and had been hoping to cement his status as the longest serving member of Galway County Council.
Over the years, he also made a number of unsuccessful attempts to secure a seat in Dáil Eireann.
While in 2010, a Galway pensioner was jailed for attempting to extort five thousand euro from Councillor Fahy in a case described by Gardai as 'bizarre and unbelievable'.
The man had originally demanded a quarter of a million euro - and claimed rival politicians wanted Councillor Fahy removed from the County Council and were willing to hire a hitman if necessary.
Councillor Michael 'Stroke' Fahy passed away last evening following a short illness - having served his constituents for four decades.
