This week the government decided not to give Dubliners the chance to have a greater say in how our city is run. They have again fudged reforming local democracy in our capital – but why? It should surely be up to the people of Dublin to decide if we want to have a more direct input on the future of our city by directly electing a Mayor of Dublin.
The way the news broke gives an insight into the reason they’ve long-fingered these reforms. Anonymous quotes from Ministers told us what we already knew. Government ministers from across Ireland don’t trust us, Dubliners, to make decisions about our own city. Their tactic is to try to distract us with sensationalist sound bites about how irresponsible Dublin voters could be if given the chance to directly elect a Mayor with real powers and resources to improve our city. Are Dublin TDs of government parties going to stay quiet while their party leaders hold back our capital city for fear of a Dublin Mayor showing them up?
I believe that this latest procrastination by government is less to do with Dubai’s most famous courtroom defendant and more to do with a Limerick-based former civil servant. It’s very possible that the government have got cold feet from their experience with the new Mayor of Limerick, who was previously Secretary General of the Department of Finance. Not aligned with any political party, Mayor John Moran may have ruffled some feathers among the ranks of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs and councillors in Limerick, but that is no reason to hold back progress in Dublin. If anything, the new role of the Mayor of Limerick has been set up for failure by still having to rely on central government for funding and very little scope to change how local public services are provided.
This is not just about the position of the Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin – this is about reforming local government across our capital city to bring decisions closer to the people. The Dublin Citizens Assembly published its report two and a half years ago, making 18 recommendations on how the government should roll out a Directly Elected Mayor. It includes an outline of broader local government reform giving more power to councillors and the new Mayor on housing, childcare, infrastructure and transport. Making politicians more accountable to the people of the city who elected them.
Dublin wouldn’t be the first city to give residents a chance to choose a new way of local decision-making. The people of Limerick directly elected their first Mayor in June 2024. In 2019, the Limerick public voted in favour of bringing in a directly elected Mayor, but on the same day, Cork and Waterford both voted against the proposal by 51% to 49%. Even though the Cork and Waterford votes were narrowly lost, there’s still clearly an appetite for change there. The Minister should start engaging with the stakeholders in these cities, as well as Galway, with a aim of giving the public a vote on reform that works for those cities. In time we feel that all cities and towns with a population over 30,000 should be given the choice as to whether they want a Directly Elected Mayor.
We need certainty on the future model for local government in Ireland. To start, the government need to publish the details of what powers they propose the Directly Elected Mayor for Dublin would take over from government departments and council management so that we can see how serious they are. Running a widespread public information campaign about the proposed changes is needed so we can make an informed decision. The choice is clear: Either set a date for Dubliners to vote on whether we modernise how our city is run or keep things as they’ve always been.