There will be no animals at the Nativity crib outside the Mansion House this year.
The ban on live animals at the crib will go ahead despite calls for the "scrooge-like" change to be reversed by Green Lord Mayor, Caroline Conroy.
Lord Mayor Conroy issued a fiery defence at last night’s Dublin City Council meeting and criticised Fine Gael for an "opportunist political attack" during a lively debate.
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She told Councillors live animals will not be part of the crib this year as the Mansion House’s Christmas scene is the responsibility of the Lord Mayor of the day.
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, apart from during Covid. Many children living in the city see farm animals for the first time at the crib.
Lord Mayor Conroy said she decided a "significant revamp" was needed to make the crib "better" this Christmas and added previous cribs were like a "shed" citizens walked through and saw a couple of farm animals behind a screen at the end.
Fine Gael's leader on the Council, James Geoghegan, said it was "unfortunate" the Lord Mayor chose to attack Fine Gael and defended Fine Gael's actions.
He said they had made a criticism of the Lord Mayor's "political" decision to remove animals from the crib and said the controversy was down to the public's reaction to it.
Independent Councillor John Lyons criticised Fine Gael for their "desperate" attack on the Green Party.
Fine Gael councillors lodged the emergency motion that would have forced an embarrassing u-turn on the new Green Lord Mayor, Caroline Conroy.
There was public outcry last month when the Lord Mayor announced the cherished live crib visitor attraction was being scrapped on animal welfare grounds.
The crib has been a popular Christmas event since 1995 with thousands of families visiting the Mansion House to see the Nativity scene with live farm animals - before Covid hit.
A large number of organisations and public figures, such as the IFA (Irish Farmers Association) and ex-President, Mry McAleese, have come out against the decision.
Before the meeting, Cllr James Geoghegan, Fine Gael’s Group Leader on Dublin City Council, 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 scrooge-like 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.”
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