Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

During the recent elections, the Government did not give the Dubs a chance to vote on an elected mayor for the four Dublin local authorities. This is due to the opposition of a small group of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil councillors in Fingal County Council to the election of a mayor for the 1.4 million people of Dublin, despite the clear demand. The Government is now talking about a citizen's assembly for Dublin but there will be an opportunity in the forthcoming by-elections or general election to finally give the population of Dublin a chance to elect a real mayor with executive powers along the lines of those in place in almost every other major European city, including the successful mayoralties in London and Manchester. Is it not time to move beyond the resistance in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to having a proper leader for the Dublin region? We badly need leadership in Dublin, as the Minister knows.

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