Agenda and minutes

Minutes proposes by Cllr. Dermot Lacey and second by Councillor Mannix Flynn.

Order: Minutes agreed.

Order: Receptions noted and approved.

Order: Councillor attendance at Housing Conference approved.

Order: Illumination request agreed.

The Members expressed their disappointment with the response from St. Patrick’s Festival.

Order: Correspondence noted. It was agreed to write again to Minister Martin on the matter and also to President Higgins as Patron of St. Patricks Festival. The Chair would also speak to the Lord Mayor to advance the case.

Cllr. Horner confirmed that she had forwarded her observations on the issue to the Manager. She would consider circulating them to the other Members if they so wished.

Order: The report on the proposed Local Community Safety Partnerships was noted.

That the Protocol Committee agrees;

The Law Agent shall carry out an opinion on the practices, procedures and decisions adopted by the Subcommittee of the Arts, Culture, Leisure & Recreation SPC established to explore cultural uses and occupancy of the former DIT School of Music on Chatham Row (the “Subcommittee”), and that this opinion would include, but not be limited to;

·         evaluating whether there was any objective or subjective bias present in any aspect of the decision making process and as part of this evaluation, assess the public statements made by members of the Subcommittee at the Arts, Culture, Leisure and Recreation SPC meeting of the 27^th of November 2023 and thereafter at the monthly council meeting on the 4^th of December 2023;

·         considering the relevant powers of both the Arts, Culture, Leisure and Recreation SPC and the Subcommittee to make a decision restricting the right of an entity to negotiate a lease with the Property section of Dublin City Council;

·         clarifying the relevant executive or reserved functions in respect of the power to award, modify, extend or refuse to extend a lease, or a meanwhile use lease, specifically in the case of the premises of the former DIT School of Music on Chatham Row;

·         probing the outcome of the Subcommittee and the extent to which the Property section of Dublin City Council are legally bound by this outcome; and

·         Identifying any other relevant matter, including standing orders, local government acts, general principles of procurement and general principles of fair procedure that may have application to the process, procedures and decision of the Subcommittee. 

Cllr. James Geoghegan spoke to his motion which was seconded by Mannix Flynn. The motion was put to a vote and the following is a breakdown of the result. Cat O’Driscoll, Deirdre Heney and Anne Feeney abstained. Mannix Flynn, Naoise O’Muiri voted in favour. Anthony Connaghan, Racheal Batten, Noeleen Reilly, Janet Horner, Dermot Lacey and Fiona Connelly voted against.

Order: The motion was defeated.

The Manager informed the Committee that two Councillors had to be selected to accompany the Lord Mayor on the visit to San Jose in February 2024. It was agreed that only those Councillors who had not visited previously should be considered.   

Order: It was agreed that nominations should be made through the Group Leaders and forwarded to the Chair and the Manager.

Order: It was agreed to write to the City Council’s counterparts in the Seoul Metropolitan Government to ask them to confirm the position around proposed legislation on this issue.  

Cllr. Pigeon requested that the Parks Department investigate reinstating the decorative flower planters situated on the front balustrade of City Hall.   

Order: It was agreed that the Park Department would investigate the greening of City Hall and would consider the feasibility of Cllr. Pidgeon’s request as part of that process.

It was also agreed that an update report on the Newcomen Bank project would be brought to the next meeting.

The Manager informed the Committee that the Referenda on Family and Care are scheduled for 8^th March 2024. The closing date for the public to register to vote is 20^th February. The deadline for applying for a postal vote is 12^th February (eligibility criteria applies). The public can use the Voter.ie and Check the Register online systems to check if they are registered or to amend their details.

The Franchise section will circulate the Sharefile link tomorrow with the most up to date copy of the register. Advice on how to access the sharefile link will be included on the email. There will be one file for each LEA. The Franchise Section will also advise on voter eligibility for the referenda and Local Elections.

The Manager put forward a proposal to lock the register on 11^th April in order to provide copies of the register to all Councillors and candidates for the Local Elections. It was agreed to review this in March when the timeline for Local Elections was confirmed.

The Manager reminded Members the March Council meeting will be held in Irish. The meeting will be conducted fully through Irish and there will be live translation to English (in chamber and remote). The front pages of the agenda will be translated and available in English and Irish. 

·         There will be some meeting etiquette required – the interpreting service has suggested the following to assist them:

·         We will require cameras to be switched on when Councillors are making a contribution on Zoom – the interpreter will need this.

·         People will need to be extra vigilant in terms of switching on and off their microphone in the chamber.

·         For those remote – the interpreters have requested that wired headphones must be used for clarity (if you don’t have any we can provide them for you if you wish)

·         We have been reliably informed that people who are reading Irish do so quicker than those speaking off the cuff so we have been asked that if you are reading from a script to please take your time.

Conradhna Gaeilge will assist in translating any contributions / questions and provide one to one practice on pronunciation if required.

There were no items for discussion.

Order: Agreed.