The Irish Times view on a directly-elected mayor for Dublin: Idea for capital has merit

The great irony in the Dublin citizens’ assembly on whether the city should have a directly-elected mayor is that the Oireachtas has already settled the matter, two decades ago to be precise. A law was enacted in 2001 to allow elections but repealed before voters ever had their say. Two attempts to revive the idea came to nothing. Now, eight years after the last effort ran aground, the baton has passed to an assembly. Deliberations start next month.

The reluctance of elected politicians to take on the question is as stark an illustration as any that the issues raised are complex, with difficult trade-offs to be confronted if a new mayoralty is to be established with sufficient powers to make a real difference for Dublin. But the idea of an elected mayor in the capital has considerable merit, not least because such an office would confer democratic legitimacy on the leader of the city and its hinterland, home to 1.5 million people and the State’s economic engine. That is no small thing – and a world away from the current system in which the chiefs of four Dublin local authorities wield executive power while council-elected mayors of variable calibre exercise largely ceremonial functions. An elected mayoralty would enhance public accountability, making the office-holder answerable to voters.

Serious checks and balances would be required to guard against excessive power and the abuse of office

But merely electing a figurehead is not the full story. For the office to work in an effective way, it would need clout. More often than not, the running of the city seems like a chaotic spaghetti junction. The city lacks autonomy, with central Government firmly in command and a multitude of competing interests vying to influence it. Control flows from Ministers to bodies that often seem far removed from the people they serve and local government. Solutions to issues centred on Dublin – the housing crisis, traffic congestion, public transport shortcomings – are as elusive as ever.

Giving real authority to an elected mayor to tackle such challenges means Ministers, Departments and the executive leaders of councils would have to surrender power. Thus the assembly’s examination of “what functions could be transferred from central government to regional or local government in Dublin, and how this should be funded” will be critical. These are significant issues but they are hardly unique to Dublin. There are good examples elsewhere of a better balance being struck between national power prerogatives and city power.

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One crucial point to note is that an elected Dublin mayor would have a personal mandate of scale, probably second only to the President in terms of the number of votes needed to win. Serious checks and balances would be required to guard against excessive power and the abuse of office. At issue here is potentially momentous change. But the political appetite for anything other than a citizens’ assembly remains unclear.