30-06-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Fine Gael councillor Ray McAdam elected as new Lord Mayor of Dublin
The Lord Mayor confirmed that the theme of his term of office will be Celebrating Dublin - a year-long focus on championing the city's people, places and potential.
Councillor McAdam said: 'Dublin is a city I love deeply. But like many Dubliners, I know it can do better. That's why the theme of my mayoralty is simple but powerful: Celebrating Dublin. To celebrate Dublin is not to ignore its problems. It's the opposite. It's about lifting our city up and asking it, and ourselves, to live up to the best of what it can be.'
He currently serves as chair of the council's Protocol Committee and has served as leader of the Fine Gael group on Dublin City Council for seven years, most recently following the June 2024 Local Elections. He is also a member of both the Housing and the Mobility and Public Realm Strategic Policy Committees.
The Lord Mayor was born in Cavan and raised in Northern Ireland, where he was educated at St Michael's College, Enniskillen. He studied Philosophy and Political Science at Trinity College and worked in sales and as a political aide to Minister Paschal Donohoe before entering elected office.
The Lord Mayor's term will be anchored by five key priorities. This will include launching a Lord Mayor's Commission on Dublin 2050 to develop a long-term vision for the capital's city centre.
The Lord Mayor said: 'Cities across the world are being reshaped by post-pandemic life, changing how we shop, move, gather, and live. Dublin can't drift - it must lead. This Commission will bring people together from every part of city life to ask one central question: what should Dublin's city centre feel and look like by 2050?'
The Cavan man aims to create a public Dublin Vacancy Map and to push for the reuse of empty buildings. He also plans to promote sport and physical activity, accessibility and inclusion in the city's services and spaces and establish a citywide platform: Young Dubliners Speak, to involve young people in civic life.
