Newly-elected Social Democrats councillor Daniel Ennis will be proposed as the city’s Lord Mayor at tomorrow’s annual meeting of Dublin City Council.
Cllr Ennis, who represents the North Inner City, has been nominated by the new progressive alliance on Dublin City Council, formed by the Social Democrats, Sinn Féin, People Before Profit and a number of Independent councillors, including Pat Dunne, Cieran Perry, John Lyons and Barry Heneghan.
The alliance will propose Cllr Janice Boylan (SF) as Deputy Lord Mayor.
The Labour Party and Green Party were initially part of the discussions to form a progressive alliance but withdrew from talks on June 14 and June 19 respectively.
Cllr Cat O’Driscoll, the Social Democrats’ group leader on Dublin City Council, said:
“Our alliance, with inclusion and anti-racism at its core, is focused on addressing the challenges in housing, safety, climate and city services, leaving no one behind. We are very disappointed that the Greens and Labour left our talks.
“We’ve seen a rise of the far right which is partly driven by continued underinvestment in social and public services.
“Throughout the local election campaign, we heard from people who are struggling to heat homes, access services and feel unsafe in their city. Decades of poor leadership from Fine Geal and Fianna Fail has brought us here.”
Cllr Daniel Ennis said:
“If elected as Lord Mayor, I would promote everything that is good about our great city, despite the many challenges we face. I want to stand up for our capital at a time when it needs strong, progressive leadership more than ever.
“We need to fight against hate and division by backing initiatives, projects and people that will bring us together. With the right mix of heart, drive, strength and compassion, Dublin can thrive.”
Dublin Central TD Gary Gannon said:
“As a prominent community activist with longstanding involvement in youth sporting organisations, Daniel would make an exceptional Lord Mayor for Dublin. He is deeply committed to spreading the message of inclusion and tolerance and would be a strong, unifying voice for all communities.
“Dublin needs a Lord Mayor like Daniel more than ever. It is therefore deeply regrettable that Labour and the Green Party have squandered an opportunity to form a genuinely progressive alliance on Dublin City Council that would smooth the path to his election.
“For all their talk about the need for unity on the left, it now appears that the Labour Party will simply revert to their default position of being mudguards for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil at the first opportunity.
“In particular, it exposes Labour’s repeated calls for more cooperation between left leaning parties for the hollow rhetoric that it is.”
June 20, 2024