Jim Gavin ruff les feathers in new role
COUNCILLORS have been feeling the heat from former football manager Jim Gavin in his new role as chair of the citizens’ assembly on a directly elected mayor for Dublin.
His no-nonsense style has raised some political hackles as he lays down the law on exactly how the assembly will work.
Appointed to the post on March 24, Mr Gavin wrote to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar on the same day informing him that when it came to the 12 city councillors who would be on the assembly, ‘the Fine Gael party will therefore have two seats and these seats will be gender balanced and determined by lottery should the allocation be oversubscribed’.
Mr Gavin gave the Tánaiste a deadline of ‘no later than 2 April’ for names to be forwarded and warned, ‘You should also ensure that the nominated councillors will be in a position to attend all meetings of the assembly, without exception’.
He told Mr Varadkar the deadline for a report on the mayorship was eight months from now and ‘it is my intention to meet the requirement’. The speed with which he intends to meet his deadline has caused disquiet among a political class who have been looking into the concept for two decades since former Fine Gael presidential candidate Gay Mitchell called in 2003 for the Lord Mayor of Dublin to be directly elected by the people of the city. One grandee said: ‘Who is he to be telling us how to sort ourselves out? We are democratically elected. We won’t be told by some temporary appointee how to arrange our affairs on gender lines.’
Another councillor said: ‘What is he going to do, give us laps around the pitch if we are late or miss a session?’
‘He is moving a bit fast for the old council grandees,’ another source said.