DUBLIN CITY’S NEW Lord Mayor has responded to some of the criticism directed at her following her election last night.
Críona Ní Dhálaigh was interviewed on The Anton Savage Show today, after Austin Stack, the son of prison officer Brian stack who was killed by the IRA in 1983, criticised the fact a member of Sinn Féin would hold the office of Lord Mayor during the 1916 centenary commemorations.
Ní Dhálaigh said she hadn’t heard Stack’s comments but she is “very conscious of people’s sensitivities”.
“I am going to take this role on and be inclusive. I’m very conscious of people’s sensitivities, but I am the first citizen of this city and I will be representing the city in that capacity, not in my capacity as a Sinn Féin member,” she said, before adding: “I’m not trying to ‘un-Sinn Féin’ myself.”
Ní Dhálaigh noted: “No one political party has a monopoly on the 1916 celebrations.”
She said she doesn’t want to “be continuously answering questions to do with Sinn Féin”, instead hoping to highlight issues such as the housing crisis in the city.
The councillor said it is “a shocking indictment of our society” that there are 1,000 children in emergency accommodation in Dublin.
Ní Dhálaigh stated that the Easter Rising and the Troubles in Northern Ireland were “all part of trying to get independence for Ireland”, noting her party wants “to make peace work”.
She said that next year’s commemorations need to be carried out “in a fitting manner” that focuses on “inclusivity”.
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