The Lord Mayor has refused to say whether live animals will be part of this Christmas' nativity crib.
A life-sized stable with donkeys, goats and sheep has been erected outside the Mansion House as part of the Christmas festivities every year since 1995. Many children living in the city saw their first real-life farm animal at the crib over the years.
However, at a recent protocol meeting, Lord Mayor and Green Party Cllr Caroline Conroy introduced plans to ban the live animal element of the crib and add other elements. Cllrs present at the protocol meeting agreed to the plans as the crib is traditionally the responsibility of the Lord Mayor of the day.
Read more: Hundreds of Twitter jobs in Dublin could be lost as employees lose office access
Speaking on RTÉ radio, Cllr Conroy said she wanted to introduce a more "inclusive" winter wonderland experience for children. Instead of a crib, this year, Cllr Conroy wants to introduce choirs, sleighs and post boxes outside the Mansion House.
The perceived ban on live animals sparked a major backlash from the much loved former president, Mary McAleese, and Fine Gael Minister Patrick O'Donovan. Fine Gael councillors have put forward an emergency motion to reverse the live animal ban at Monday night's Council meeting.
However, it is up to Cllr Conroy to allow the motion be heard as some have argued it is not a technical emergency as defined in the standing orders. Fine Gael leader on the Council James Geoghegan has threatened to suspend standing orders and force a "proxy" vote if the Lord Mayor rules the motion invalid.
The Lord Mayor said she was "not doing anything today" when asked by Dublin Live what her plans were in relation to the live animal ban. Cllr Geoghegan had invited the Lord Mayor to discuss the matter ahead of Monday's crunch meeting but she had not replied at the time of publishing.
Cllr Geoghegan said: "We hope that having listened to the weight of public opinion, including from the Dublin Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (DSPCA) and Fionn Sherlock, the Enniskerry farmer, who supplies the animals every year, that the Lord Mayor can see sense on this decision.
"At the very least, the general public are entitled to know the actual reasons for why school children will not get the opportunity to see live animals like they have every other year." One Green source was not happy with how the changes to the crib were introduced and claimed they had "gone into shutdown" after they failed to sell the changes to the public.
Read next:
Inspectors of illegal Coolock dump's cars set on fire while visiting site
Young man stabbed in Dublin city centre apartment as woman arrested
Tent in Dublin back garden advertised on Airbnb for €35 a night
Council pay €400,000 to remove 'section' of illegal Coolock dump plaguing locals
Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest Dublin news straight to your inbox.
