MAYOR OF DUBLIN:GREEN PARTY TD for Dublin Mid-West Paul Gogarty has expressed an interest in becoming a directly-elected mayor of Dublin. He said the mayor would oversee a budget of €1.5 billion.
Mr Gogarty launched a three-month consultation process to encourage members of the public to contribute ideas about the position which he said could be integrated into legislation.
Asked if he was interested in contesting the election, Mr Gogarty said: “Yes I would be interested.” He said the Greens would hold a selection convention in July. “I certainly wouldn’t be adverse to a candidate with good credentials putting their name forward. If that’s me, well and good.”
Mr Gogarty said the “four unelected city and county managers” were currently “the real power-brokers” in Dublin but the new position would mean the mayor could promote citizens’ views on water, waste and transport policy.
Green Party leader John Gormley said it was his intention that the election be held this year. An aspiration to hold the election in June had been “very ambitious” and a date in autumn was now likely. “This is actually going to happen. A lot of people said it would never happen. It is going to happen,” he insisted.
Mr Gormley said the position would carry “considerable power” and this had been acknowledged in meetings he had held with Opposition parties. They were also interested in the position, he said.
On Saturday morning at the Green Party convention, Mr Gormley said Mr Gogarty had played a key role in reversing education cutbacks. “As a TD as opposed to a Minister, I’ve achieved more than most parliamentarians could hope to achieve,” Mr Gogarty said. Following the elevation of Mary White and Ciarán Cuffe in the recent reshuffle, Mr Gogarty is the only member of the parliamentary party not in possession of a ministerial title.