The report that over 40 applications have been received by the Local Appointments Commission for the post as Dublin city manager is encouraging this is a position of inestimable importance for the city indeed for the entire country and it must be filled by someone of the highest calibre. The challenges facing the new city manager, who will have overall responsibility for a staff of some 6,400 and a budget of £330 million, are daunting. There is the need to oversee the implementation of the Light Rail Transit (LRT) system the need to ensure that the city attracts its fair share of inward investment and tourism. And, most of all, the need to frame an ambitious and coherent vision that will allow Dublin to secure its rightful place as one of Europe's great capital cities.
This is a good time to be taking the post of city manager, certainly much better than a decade ago when large tracts of the inner city had been laid waste by planning blight and property speculation, and when the inner suburbs were bleak and uninviting. Today, the overall picture is much brighter developments like that around Temple Bar have helped the city to regain much of its former sparkle. These days, Dublin has a reputation as one of the most fashionable European cities and it is second only to London and Paris as a favoured destination for weekend leisure breaks it is a moot point, however, whether this progress has been achieved because, or perhaps even in spite of, official policy. Certainly, Dublin Corporation is taking a much stronger role as a catalyst for change and revival in the city. But it has still to assume the primary role that it should occupy in the life of the city.
To their credit, Dublin city councillors have underlined the critical importance of the city manager post by submitting their own expanded brief for the job, the first time that elected representatives of any local authority in the State have taken this step. The amended brief drawn up by councillors on a nonpartisan basis calls for the appointment of an "innovative person with a career record that demonstrates the necessary vision, leadership, managerial and communications skills". The city clearly needs this type of leadership. Dublin may still have a unique vibrancy and joie de vivre but it faces intense competition from other European capitals as it pitches for new investment and prestigious cultural and sporting events.
It also needs firm leadership to ensure that ambitious projects such as the LRT are fully implemented. Efforts are already being made in some quarters to reverse the Government's decision to support the scheme. The new city manager will need to stamp his own authority on the transport issue and vigorously support the light rail project. The Local Appointments Commission (LAC) is due to make the appointment within the next month. Since the LAC is appointed by the Department of the Environment, it seems likely that the successful candidate will be an experienced corporation or local authority figure or a senior civil servant. But the LAC should be prepared to cast its net far and wide as it seeks the right candidate.