Galway county councillor Michael "Stroke" Fahy is to appeal his conviction and sentence for fraud and attempted theft to the Court of Criminal Appeal.
Colman Sherry, a solicitor for the independent councillor, confirmed yesterday that submissions for an appeal were being prepared in advance of the Easter legal break.
The councillor, who resigned from Fianna Fáil in 2004 after a Garda investigation was initiated into misappropriation of local authority road funding, was given a 12-month prison sentence and a €75,000 fine by Judge Raymond Groarke in Galway Circuit Court on Tuesday.
This followed his conviction earlier this month on seven counts of fraud and attempted theft arising from the erection of more than a mile of fencing on his farmland by a Galway County Council contractor.
Mr Fahy was given a fortnight by Judge Groarke to put his affairs in order before presenting himself at Loughrea Garda station on April 2nd.
Galway County Council has not invoked Section 13 of the Local Government Act 2001 to disqualify Mr Fahy pending the outcome of an appeal, and will make no comment. This means the councillor has been invited to, and may attend, next Monday's meeting of the local authority.
He has already made it clear that he intends to continue his work as a public representative.
The insurance agent and farmer from Ardrahan, Co Galway, is the longest-serving member of Galway County Council, and lives with his 96-year-old mother.
There was an angry reaction to the sentencing among Mr Fahy's constituents in the south Galway area yesterday.
Several residents said he had already repaid the money owed to the local authority after the details were reported to then county manager Donal O'Donoghue.
One shopkeeper in the area, Gary Higgins, said Mr Fahey was an outstanding councillor, and people were dumbfounded at the imposition of a prison term for a "very minor offence".
The Garda investigation was initiated after a Freedom of Information request was submitted by the Irish Independent. The acting county manager opted to refer the file to gardaí at this point.
Mr Fahy resigned from Fianna Fáil voluntarily, confirming this in a statement issued through party headquarters in late September 2004.
Co Galway Senator Micheal Kitt (FF) said it would not be fair to remove Mr Fahy from the local authority when legal avenues were being pursued.
Mr Fahy earned his "Stroke" nickname when he called a meeting of party officials in Dublin in 1979 over his failure to secure a general election nomination. After the meeting he was added to the election ticket.
In April 2003, he threatened to go on hunger strike unless changes were made to the Galway County Development Plan.
Shortly before the June 2004 local elections, he acknowledged that he had used Oireachtas envelopes to send out hundreds of canvassing letters, a service normally confined to TDs and senators.
