FIANNA FÁIL COUNCILLOR FOR Ballyfermot-Drimnagh Daithí De Róiste has been elected unopposed as the next Lord Mayor of Dublin.
De Róiste’s family attended the meeting at Dublin’s city hall this evening, where councillors joked that his grandmother would be joining Labour and Sinn Féin.
De Róiste’s grandmother, Kathleen , was even jokingly nominated for the position by former Fine Gael Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí, before withdrawing the nomination.
Giving his victory speech after his election as the 355th Lord Mayor of Dublin, De Róiste joked:
“Not gonna lie, when Cllr Ó Muirí said he had a nomination I was like ‘what’s going on here?!’”
De Róiste said he was inspired by the mayor of Anaheim in California, who had ran on a campaign of making the city a city of kindness.
WATCH: Dublin City has a new Lord Mayor, congratulations to @daithideroiste @LordMayorDublin pic.twitter.com/2NWOusIgAE
— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) June 26, 2023
He continued:
“Dublin is a city of kindness.”
“A small act of kindness can make a big difference in someone’s day. It’s a program that costs nothing that anybody can start. I’d like to invite each and every councillor in this chamber, in the coming year and beyond, to focus on making Dublin the city of kindness.”
“Together, we can create a city that radiates compassionate empathy in every aspect of its existence,” he said.
“I would like to establish a forum on the creation of a city charter to promote a more inclusive and accessible city that would be adopted by councillors.”
“I would like to see communication boards in all of our playground, sensory rooms in every one of our libraries, as well as sensory rooms in buildings in high footfall areas.”
De Róiste will be mayor until next June.
De Róiste was nominated by party colleague Cllr Rachel Batten who said that he had gone into politics after having “a lively debate” with Tánaiste Micheál Martin.
“He was stating that he wasn’t doing enough for his community and the Tánaiste, probably to Daithí’s surprise, said ‘Well you go run and get elected’”.
She added that De Róiste was “honest, frank, and a true advocate for social justice”.
Fine Gael Cllr James Geoghegan said that De Róiste’s unanimous election reflected the importance of his message of increasing kindness.
Dubliners may be able to directly elect a Lord Mayor as early as next June, with several councillors in today’s meeeting welcoming the development.
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