Minutes:
The Lord Mayor welcomed members and staff back to the City Council Chamber in City Hall after 2 years due to Covid.
She formally welcomed Councillors Darragh Moriarty, Declan Meenagh and Eimer McCormack to their first meeting in or from the Council Chamber in City Hall since their co-option to Dublin City Council.
The Lord Mayor extended her congratulations to Cllr Janice Boylan on her recent marriage to Mark Quinn and congratulated the former Lady Mayoress Clare Fitzgerald on the birth of her baby son Aidan on 10th April.
She also commended the Firefighters from Dublin Fire Brigade that travelled to the World Firefighter Games (WFG) in Lisbon, a bi-annual event hosted in different cities each time. Dublin’s involvement this year was co-ordinated by the DFB Sports and Social Club and supported by the Council’s Sports and Wellbeing Partnership who sponsored a team kit. Multiple medals were awarded in Rugby, Golf, 800m sprint, 5k road race, Marathon, Tennis, Indoor Rowing, stair climb, firehouse cook-off, and fire-truck challenge.
The Lord Mayor advised the members that the Office of the Chief Executive and of the Lord Mayor had been notified by Cllr Tina MacVeigh of her intention to step down from her role as Councillor for the south west inner city for a short period due to family circumstances. Cllr MacVeigh made a short statement to members. The Co-Option for Cllr MacVeigh with be listed for the June Council Meeting.
She updated members on the following forthcoming events:
· Special Meeting of Council, on Wednesday 11th May at 7pmregarding O’Devaney Gardens and Tuesday 17th May at 6.15 p.m. to discuss progress on Climate Action Plan Targets.
· Lord Mayor’s Awards will take place on Thursday 23rd June 2022. Further details will be circulated to the members.
Conferral of the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin
The Lord Mayor announced that she was proposing to grant the Freedom of the City to Ailbhe Smyth, Prof Mary Aiken and Kellie Harrington at a conferral ceremony to be held on Saturday the 11th June 2022 in the Round Room at the Mansion house. She gave the background to her decision to honour these three women for their significant contribution to the city and country across three different spheres acknowledging that all show pertinent public service and resilience to their causes. The proposal was seconded by Deputy Lord Mayor Joe Costello and was agreed by the City Council.
The following resolution was agreed by members the following resolution to the Council:
“That Dublin City Council hereby resolves that the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin be conferred on Ailbhe Smyth, Prof. Mary Aiken and Kellie Harrington and that their names be inscribed on the Roll of Honorary Freedom of Dublin, pursuant to the provisions of Section 74 of the Local Government Act, 2001, in recognition of their enormous contribution to the City of Dublin in relation to Cyberpsychology, Online Safety & Security, Human Rights, Social Justice & Academia and Community, Care & Sport.”