DUBLIN COUNCILLORS WILL elect a new Lord Mayor at next week’s Council meeting and a Fine Gael councillor is set to take on the role.

The Lord Mayor is elected to the office annually by members of Dublin City Council.

New Lord Mayors are appointed each June, though elections are sometimes needed at other points of the year.

For example, outgoing Lord Mayor Emma Blain was elected on 18 December and succeeded former councillor James Geoghegan, who became a TD for Dublin Bay South in the 2024 General Election.

Current Lord Mayor of Dublin Emma Blain

At Monday evening’s Annual Council meeting, Fine Gael councillor Ray McAdam is set to be elected to succeed his party colleague Emma Blain.

If elected, McAdam will become the 358^th Lord Mayor of Dublin.

McAdam, who has acted as a Parliamentary Assistant to Paschal Donohoe, is a North Inner City councillor and was first elected in 2009.

He has been re-elected at subsequent Local Elections in 2014, 2019 and again in 2024.

In addition to the support of his Fine Gael party, McAdam can also rely on the backing of Fianna Fáil, Labour and the Greens.

This is because Dublin City councillors from these parties entered into a political agreement last year, which is set to run until 2029.

The position of Lord Mayor is set to be rotated among these parties as part of the agreement. 

There are 63 councillors within Dublin City Council and 31 councillors belong to this pact.

Fine Gael councillor Ray McAdam Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

In a statement to The Journal, McAdam confirmed that he will be nominated by this grouping at Monday’s Council meeting.

Sinn Féin has nine councillors elected to Dublin City Council and will nominate Councillor Kourtney Kenny as their candidate.

Sinn Féin is part of a newly-formed “Progressive Alliance” which includes the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and independent councillors Pat Dunne, Cieran Perry, and John Lyons.

This alliance contains 24 councillors and will support Kenny’s bid.

Kourtney Kenny Sinn Féin Sinn Féin

Kenny has appealed to Green Party and Labour Party councillors to support her candidacy and added: “Their ongoing support for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in Dublin City Council is both opportunistic and hypocritical.

“They cannot keep speaking out of both sides of their mouths, challenging the government in Leinster House and supporting them on Dublin City Council.”

The Lord Mayor presides at meetings of the City Council, signs its records of proceedings and represents the city at public events.

They also act as an ambassador for the city both locally and internationally and they usually live in the official residence on Dawson Street, the Mansion House, during their term. 

The position is a largely ceremonial role and they serve a term of just one year.

This was not always the case however and Alfie Byrne was Lord Mayor of Dublin for nine consecutive years from 1931 to 1938.