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CRÍONA NÍ DHÁLAIGH has been elected as the new Lord Mayor of Dublin.
It comes after an agreement was made last year that a Sinn Féin councillor would take over the position of Lord Mayor during the centenary of the 1916 Rising.
However, Fianna Fáil councillor Jim O’Callaghan and independent councillor Mannix Flynn put their names forward to try and stop this from happening.
Fifty-nine members of the city council voted this evening, 41 votes went to Ní Dhálaigh, nine went to Jim O’Callaghan and Mannix Flynn received eight votes. There was one abstention.
Addressing the council after being elected, Ní Dhálaigh said:
I am a proud Dub, born and bred in Dublin. I owe everything to my parents.
Ní Dhálaigh stopped her speech to say ‘thanks Ma’ to her mother who was in the gallery.
She said her late father is who inspired her most, and holding back tears, Ní Dhálaigh said:
He would be very proud to see his daughter be the first person of his beloved city.
Councillor Christy Burke also spoke about how she was close to her father, saying:
I have no doubt he will guide you on your journey through the year.
Ní Dhálaigh said she wanted Dublin to be a “city of equality” and that tackling the housing crisis would be a top priority.
She also spoke about Clerys and Dunnes Stores asking Natrium to use her office to begin talks with Clerys workers.
‘Sinn Féin will hijack commemoration’
O’Callaghan said he put his name forward because he has a fear “that Sinn Féin will hijack this important year of commemoration to justify the 30 year pointless and counterproductive campaign by the provisional IRA.”
The deputy leader of Sinn Féin, Dublin City Council Councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha, described the claims as ‘laughable’.
Speaking in the chamber O’Callaghan congratulated Ní Dhálaigh, describing her as “a hard working and diligent councillor”.
However, he did go on to highlight his concerns, saying, “Don’t let the powers that be in Sinn Féin hijack [the 1916 commemoration].
Mannix Flynn also spoke, saying, “The people of Dublin have an exceptional Lord Mayor tonight.”
He also called on Ní Dhálaigh to ‘use her powers’ to support victims of child sex abuse, naming Maria Cahill and Paulie McGahon.
I call on you because you are an exceptional human being…I call you not to go down the party line and to be an independent individual.
He later disrupted other speakers who criticised him for his speech. Mannix said, “You can’t hide the truth boys and girls”.
Labour Councillor Mary Freehill said she was disappointed by Mannix “taking down the tone” of the meeting and added that the meeting “wasn’t about egos”.
‘Best Lord Mayor ever’
The outgoing Lord Mayor, Christy Burke, was widely acknowledged for his work over the past 12 months.
That acknowledgement wasn’t just heard in the council meeting, it could be seen at Croke Park yesterday when Dublin took on Kildare:
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Is that sarcasm..?
The *drab* colours of the old punt??
I’m fond of the euro, but the punt was lovely – fabulous old Irish art on it.
Am I on glue? Am I remembering it incorrectly?
I agree the art on them was very good but I do think the colours were fairly drab.
I like glue
Fairly drab, good, great, fantastic, who cares unless you can buy more for it,
You gotta love the nun on the old fiver.
Or not.
With the old punt you actually felt like you had real money that was worth something in your pocket. A 50 euro note now goes nowhere. Monopoly money.
@Karol Aww, all the pretty colours. Should we have put Barney the dinosaur, Elmo and Zig and Zag on the old punt? Would that have been colourful enough?
Len,
No, colours would have sufficed.
Miss getting a few horse monies off the oul mother.
Nice picture of Bertie on the 20
You are right. The old Irish tender was fantastic…I remember asking my grandfather about the people on the notes and him telling me stories about ‘old’ Ireland. Unfortunately that’s now lost forever with the Euro
I thought the Euro would have nudey pictures by now lol.
Drab colours of the punt? The punt had so much more character. And so much more value. Wish we had never adopted the euro!
I don’t know about not adopting the euro, but the old notes were far better. Surely the EU can agree on some universally admired people like Einstein and Beethoven to put on the euro notes.
There was nothing wrong with adopting the Euro. It was been driven off a cliff by Fianna Fail that was the problem.
A common currency was, in theory, not a bad idea. But the euro was badly run from the get go. Too much political grandstanding and not enough fiscal, economic and social considerations. It wasn’t entirely Fianna Fail’s fault. Sure, they were the biggest culprit when it came down to the local Irish economy. But they can’t be blamed for failed ECB policies in relation to Portugal, Greece, Italy, Spain, etc. So, as I said, we should never have joined the euro. A better conceived common currency, yes. But not the euro.
Greatest financial con job in history adopting the euro.
Faces on notes look better than bridges.
Ah yes our old £50 that used to last for weeks not like the new €50 which seems to vanish in minutes, fond memories……….
So that’s what a £50 looked like – don’t think I ever had one of those in my pocket. And I didn’t even know the £100 existed!!
I remember once seeing an old £50 when I was little and I remember being profoundly mesmerised. Nowadays €50 are as common as the old fivers!!
Preferred the old notes.
More character.
More of a cultural icon / connection. When you held them in your hand you knew you had money, real money, worth something.
These new ones are insipid. Bland.
Could be from any old place in Europe.
I miss the old money , heading into town on a night out with 20 quid in your pocket . happy days ..
Ah yes the old money. For 5p you could get a steak and kidney pie, a cup of coffee, a slice of cheesecake and a newsreel, with enough change left over to ride the trolley from Battery Park to the Polo Grounds.
Everything was better back then for sure.
Monopoly money soon.
“I prefer old money….money was better in them days”
as if i give a fook as long as i have any of the stuff
I remember well the one and only time I saw a £100 note as a child. To my young eyes it looked like a bed sheet. Even a £50 note was an event to break down the local.Would the bar man have change or the worry of it being fake….
Worth abut 10$ Next Year.
Send me a few dozen to examine
IMO, the nicest set of notes we ever had was the Lady Lavery collection.
That nun had a fiver on her head.
If money talks then €20 has little to say.
Wasn’t there an auld fella’ on the back too in a coat? Called “Scrotum” I think he was.
Should send every1 a new €20 note. Way better way to circulate them…
Jesus who gives a flying f*ck about the colour of the money as long as you have loads of it! It could be covered in sh*te and you would still spend it!
Any plans next year for a 1916 commemorative €5/€10/€20 note?
I was listening to a 1980s recording of Fr. John O’Connor O.P. talking about a saint in the 1800s predicting that Europe would be united under Germany and that Europe would share the same currency until 22 countries had it and then Germany would cause its break up of its Empire when 22 countries shared the same currency.
19 share it now just 3 more if you believe in Saints…??? Love the weird but take most with a pinch of salt…
You can’t fold any of the Euro notes a certain way to make a picture of Reg Holdsworth from Corrie like you could with the old £10 note
Will they still be as hard to get?
have your say