‘People’s Mayor’ is a capital idea
It’s high time Dubs had a say in the future of their Fair City
IAM a Dub and have long campaigned for our capital to have its own governor. A ruler to put her or his stamp on the city and make decisions for the best of the urban area.
I have been shouted down for such a bold idea in the past, but I’ve stood by my convictions, so forgive me for getting a little tearyeyed at the recent announcement that the Government is preparing a report that favours the notion.
It appears that a directly elected mayor for Dublin is finally on the cards. Or is it? We’ve been down this road before, and my efforts over the years to keep the idea for a directly elected mayor alive have been scuppered by civil service mandarins and politicians who have done everything behind the scenes to derail this idea. Thus, my initial enthusiasm for this latest report turns to caution.
But why is the idea of a directly elected mayor so important? Plain and simple: Dublin needs a voice.
Our capital needs coordination and ruling from within. How do we solve the traffic problems? Who takes the lead in planning where people will live and where they’ll work?
Across the city, we have four local authorities working to their own timelines and objectives. Yet when you ask people, they don’t say, they’re from Fingal or Dublin city, nor south Dublin or Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.
THEY’RE
from Dublin, t hey l i ve here and they’re rightly proud of that. If Leo Varadkar is serious about his Republic of Opportunity let him enable us deliver a Dublin of Opportunity. Let him enable and empower Ireland’s main metropolitan city to deliver for all.
It cannot be misconstrued as widening the urban-rural divide. Dublin is too important for that. If Dublin grows, Ireland’s economy does also. We’ve ignored for far too long the importance of Dublin and all our cities for that matter. If we get the directly elected mayor right for Dublin, the people could look for it to be extended to the likes of Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway.
Dublin needs proper backing from Government – and not the interference it gets at present. For too long the powers of the unelected bureaucrats have been able to block or frustrate local democracy. Promises of reform have only resulted in Ireland being the most centralised country in Europe.
Real decisions affecting people’s daily lives are being taken not just at the cabinet table in Government Buildings. They’re being made in the offices, corridors and perhaps even the canteen of the Custom House.
In 2014 alone, 83 local councils and almost 680 council seats were abolished by these officials, aided by then environment minister Phil Hogan. They’ve tried to force Cork City Council to merge with the County Council and it looks like they might succeed with a merger for Galway.
What are they afraid of? Why not allow government to be brought closer to the people? Now is the time for all of us who would consider running for such a position to ‘get stuck in’ and join the debate. It appears that many opposition parties and, if the Government is to be believed, Fine Gael are in favour of a directly elected mayor for Dublin.
It is wrong to suggest that local councillors are against reform. The l ast f ailed attempt at a directly elected Mayor for Dublin saw 98 councillors across the capital vote in favour, with only 19 votes against – yet the minister at the time, Phil Hogan, deemed that was not enough. Polls on this issue also indicate support for the concept from the people of Dublin.
So what is the Government plan? They want to have a referendum. This is just another delaying tactic at a time when Dublin needs decisions and action. Those of us committed to the issue must all play a part now in shaping any legislation as well as perhaps eventually seeking the power to implement it.
So what is Local Government for? For me it is about the delivery of comprehensive public services in a manner required, demanded, and agreed by the local community. Without these attributes it is neither local nor government. Sadly, here in Ireland that is the reality.
Why do I want it? What would I want to do? Well, I want to ensure we can use the thousands of empty properties ‘ over t he shops’ throughout Dublin, properties that are currently boarded up while we have thousands in need of housing, and all because Dublin has to comply with nationally set regulations.
IWANT to see the Bank of I reland building – the former Parliament Buildings – on College Green taken back and developed as a major Museum of Dublin and Centre for Dublin Studies.
This is something government could have done as part of the bail- out terms, but bottled it. I want to see a single Dublin Transport Authority that actually might put the commuters first.
I want to see our rivers and canals developed as major community recreational facilities and not managed remotely from Fermanagh by Waterways Ireland. I want people to feel safe on the Boardwalk – by bringing in civic wardens with the power to remove people engaged in threatening behaviour, and by introducing book stands and other attractions that can make the area more socially inclusive.
And to be able to take the necessary steps, as taken by the likes of Rudy Giuliani in New York where his policy of tackling low-level crime first had a major impact on the safety of New Yorkers. Or Ken Livingston or Sadiq Khan who, between them, have revolutionised transport in London.
I believe that Dublin desperately needs a directly elected mayor – a mayor who would serve for a full five-year term. Such a person is needed now more than ever to rescue Dublin from the clutching, incompetent control of central government.
My preference would be a mayor for all Dublin who would preside over a new and powerful Dublin Regional Authority. Such a partnership approach would surely be the best model for Ireland. I have absolutely no doubt that it would be the best model for Dublin.
It is not too late for this right to be given back to citizens at the next local elections due to be held in 2019. It can be done by legislation. It doesn’t need a referendum or a plebiscite. It needs action.
It is one of the unfortunate truisms of modern Ireland that we need reform of our creaking, antiquated, underfunded and underdeveloped system of local government. It is a truism often argued for, but never implemented. So we need real reform and, of course, we need councillors to take more responsibility. They must put Dublin first.
A directly elected mayor should simply be the start of a total reform of our failing system of local government. Powers which have been stripped from elected representatives and handed over lock, stock and barrel to city and county managers need to be handed back to the elected members.
Despite the job title change from county manager to chief executive, the officials involved are effectively representatives of the Department and the Minister. Proper powers need to be restored to elected councillors.
WE
cannot talk about radically improving Dublin without addressing the issue of money. At present, Dublin City Council is losing out on millions of euro every year (€29million for 2016 alone) from rates that Government has waived its responsibility to pay.
Dublin loses funds also from the transfer of huge sums from the Local Property Tax collected here and allocated to a central fund, and it loses millions more from those who don’t have to pay. Imagine: the Custom House prevents us from properly funding ourselves, takes money from us, but expect us to clean up after them.
I have previously proposed that a national forum on the financing of local government should be established as a matter of urgency. The forum would draw its membership from the main political parties, the two councillor representative bodies and the social partners. It would be given six months to a year to agree an approach that would provide sufficient funding on a nationally agreed basis and that would allow some degree of local flexibility as to appropriate local fundraising.
Some people believe that the role of local government is to implement the views and policies of the so- called Department of Local Government. It is not. It is my job as a Dublin City Councillor to do all that is best for this city and its citizens. It is my job to stand up for Dublin, not to regurgitate the failed views and policies imposed on our city from the Custom House.
Introducing the direct election of longer-term mayors is not the panacea for all our problems, but it would be a major starting point. We need to get this city working. It is time to give Dubliners their say on the town they love so well.
Dermot Lacey is a Labour member of Dublin City Council, a former lord mayor of Dublin and cathaoirleach of t he Dublin Regional Authority, the Southern and Eastern Regional Assembly and the Eastern and Midlands Regional Assembly. He will be participating in The State of Dublin debate as part of the Festival of Politics on 23 November. See festivalofpolitics.ie