Brian O’Driscoll and Fr Peter McVerry to be made freemen of Dublin

Rugby player Brian O’Driscoll and social justice campaigner Fr Peter McVerry are to be awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin.

Lord Mayor Oisín Quinn's nomination of the two men was ratified at last night's meeting of Dublin City Council.

They will join a list of freemen and freewomen including former US presidents John F Kennedy and Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, the four members of U2, Kevin Heffernan and Aung San Suu Kyi. Louis Le Brocquy and Thomas Kinsella were the last people to be awarded the freedom of the city in 2007.

The award acknowledges the contribution of recipients to the life of the capital.

Among the ancient privileges afforded to a freeman or freewoman is the right to bring goods into Dublin through the city gates without paying customs duties; the right to pasture sheep on common ground within the city boundaries; and the right to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections.