LATEST DUBLIN CITY NEWS

• “Proposed changes to retail guidelines will cost jobs, compromise main streets and cause more dereliction - An Taisce”

  03-01-2012

  Jobs will be lost and main streets will suffer if Forfas gets its way on Retail Planning  according to a recent An Taisce  Press Release

• Rejuvenating Dublin's Tourism Product

  23-12-2011

  Dublin City Business Association commissioned Jerome Casey and Felim O’Rourke to undertake a study of tourism in Dublin and to make least-cost recommendations for its rejuvenation. The World Tourism Organisation concluded (in relation to Ireland) that "there appears to be very little correlation between marketing spending by National Tourism Organisations and international arrivals". 
  

  Within Ireland, there is a mismatch between the Irish tourism market and the public resources devoted to it. 

  33 existing tourist attractions in Dublin were reviewed, and low-cost initiatives suggested for their improvement.

  From 2000 – 2010 Ireland’s share of world tourism visitors has fallen sharply. In 2004, Ireland changed from being a destination country for incoming tourists to an origin country for Irish, outgoing tourists.

  Dublin must move from passive approval of tourist activities to an active development of tourism as a priority industry in regenerating the city’s economy. 

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

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Debate on the directly elected mayor expands

Wednesday the 7th of April 2010

The present situation in which more than 40 bodies have responsibility for Traffic is the most obvious example of this. But there are more.
Dublin Needs a Political Voice. More than perhaps anything else it needs someone who understands how things work or more accurately do not work and who will stand up for the City and County. Someone, who can be a Political advocate, armed with the mandate of direct election. The proposed election of a Mayor for Dublin gives us an opportunity to create that voice. That is why, with all its imperfections and limited powers, I welcome the publication of the “Dublin Mayor and Regional Authority” draft legislation.
 
Many believe that we need more than the simple introduction of a directly elected Mayor - they are right.  A new Mayor can and must drive further reform and a real debate about the future of Dublin.
The draft legislation clarifies some issues. It specifies the County as the area involved. It provides a new structure for the Regional Authority. However, the proposal that the Mayor would Chair the Authority, to whom he or she would be accountable, is I believe a mistake. Similarly the proposal to merge the four existing City and County Development Boards is heading in the right direction, buts its composition and democratic mandate remains unclear. Unless the Public Service agencies are accountable to this body and not equal participating parties, as at present, it will not work.
I have said before that the proposed salary is disgracefully and unnecessarily high. It is a distraction from what should be a debate about the role of a Mayor. There is no need for a E200,000+ salary for the Mayor, just as in all probability there is no need for it for Government Ministers.
The essential financial element is that the Mayor would have the power and resources to do the job, and the commitment to do it effectively. The absence of an independent source of funding is a major flaw in the current proposals and must be addressed in time.

It is clear to anyone interested that our current system of Local Government requires renewal and reform. Clear too is the fact that the various local Councils are directed, unofficially but in reality, by City and County Managers, answerable to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the permanent officials therein. This is key to our present problems and must end.
Two of the arguments used against the introduction of a directly elected Mayor are cost and "celebrity" candidates. In my view both are bogus. Properly structured, a newly elected Mayor, working with the already existing, though enhanced, Dublin Regional Authority, will see the need for many of the existing agencies reduced and or incorporated into the Mayoral structure with significant savings. On the "celebrity" candidate issue, the answer is simple - we live in a Democracy - let the people decide. We have seen recently the outcome from going down the “celebrity” road. I have great faith that the electorate will decide intelligently.
While the detail of any reform is extensive, the essentials are not. I hope that the debate, soon to take place in the Oireachtas, will seek improvements to the Bill along some of the following lines. If we are to have real reform these must include:
 
• An Independent source of funding - not subject to the whims of the Department of the Environment.
• Reform of the City and County Managers Act, creating the post of Chief Executive Officer - accountable to the relevant Local Authority and recruited by the Public Appointments Commission.
• Real controls and limitations on electoral spending at local elections and an ethical framework that is robust and just.  
• Extending the role of the Dublin Regional Authority. The powers and responsibilities of the Authority, working with the Mayor, should include:
 
1. Land Use Planning and Strategic Development.
2. Traffic and Transport Co-ordination - it would be the Dublin Transport Authority, scandalously abandoned by this Government.
3. Social and Affordable Housing - it would replace the existing Affordable Housing Partnership in the Dublin area.
4. Dublin Bay, Waterways and Mountains.
5. Economic Development and Enterprise.
6. The Assembly would also have a co-ordinating and/or monitoring role in relation to countywide services provided by agencies such as the HSE, VEC, Enterprise Ireland, Policing and relations with other Regional Authorities and relevant bodies etc.
 
Ireland can be transformed by a reformed Local Government system. It is long past time to call for better Local Government and long past time to "Stand up for Dublin. A campaign for a directly elected Mayor will give us a chance to do just that. I’m ready to play my part.