Minutes:
In Memorium:
The Lord Mayor extended her sympathies on behalf of the City Council to the family and friends of Bernie Dowling, mother of Meetings Administrator Ruth Dowling and wife of former Executive Manager Kevin Dowling, who died on 10th November.
Congratulations:
The Lord Mayor congratulated Dublin on achieving a UNESCO Learning City Award that was announced at the UNESCO Annual Conference of Learning Cities in Yeonsu, South Korea on 27th October. She extended special congratulations to the Members of the Dublin Learning City Committee who collaborated with Dublin City Council and educational and community stakeholders to achieve this award.
The Lord Mayor congratulated Smart Dublin who were joint runners up in the European Council of Innovation European iCapital Awards. This is a major achievement for the city highlighting the innovative work of the Smart Dublin team who are responding to real city challenges using technology to better manage services such as waste collection, gully cleaning and flood responses. She acknowledged the work by Jamie Cudden and Ashling Lennon and their many colleagues involved with Smart Dublin. The Lord Mayor paid special thanks to the Deputy Lord Mayor Joe Costello who represented her at the awards ceremony in Brussels.
The Lord Mayor commended the Dublin City Integration and Inclusion Week team for organising a fantastic week of events to recognise and celebrate the invaluable work done to support and include diversity within local communities. This year’s theme was Belonging, Including and Participating. She highlighted the work of the Intercultural Development Co-ordinator Joy Eniola working under the North East Inner City Initiative. Sixteen local people graduated last month from the intercultural ambassadors programme led by Joy. This is the first programme of its kind in Dublin’s northeast inner city. The 16 ambassadors represent 12 countries and four continents, and speak a total of 21 languages between them. They will be a great asset in promoting inclusion of our diverse communities in that area and also an example of what can be achieved in other diverse communities.
The Lord Mayor thanked the Dublin Winter Lights team, particularly Simon Clarke and Tom Doyle in Dublin City Council’s Events Section and Michael Ryan and Joanna Travers in the City Council Media Relations Office who have succeeded in beautifully and creatively lighting up the city with 21 environmentally friendly installations. She also thanked the 8 artists who created original designs for Dublin Winter Lights.
Upcoming Events:
Today marks the centenary of the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in London. This Wednesday 8th December at 7.30pm, on behalf of the Office of the Lord Mayor and Dublin City Public Libraries, The Lord Mayor will host an online lecture by Dublin City Council Historian in Residence Cormac Moore to mark the 100th anniversary of the debate on the Treaty by the Cabinet of Dáil Éireann which took place in the Drawing Room at the Mansion House. Tickets are free and can be booked on Eventbrite.
The Lord Mayor encouraged members to attend the Vacancy Summit being organised between the Office of the Lord Mayor and the Dublin City Recovery Office, which is being held on Zoom on the morning of Wednesday 15th December. This summit seeks to discuss commercial ground floor vacancy and over the shop type vacancy.
Retirements:
The Lord Mayor on behalf of the City Council extended her best wishes to Ollie Douglas who will retire from the City Council on 16th December. Ollie has worked in the Chief Executive’s Department for 20 years, or in another measurement approximately 280 City Council meetings. He worked on the introduction of the webcasting of meetings of Dublin City Council and has been a constant support to Councillors past and present in all matters concerning IT.
Suspension of Standing Orders:
It was proposed by the Lord Mayor and seconded by the Deputy Lord Mayor that standing orders would be suspended at 8.30p.m. to allow for extended debate on the reports listed on the agenda. Motions on notice will be deferred to the next council meeting. The Members agreed this proposal.