OVERSEEING THE CITY

Dublin Lord Mayor Hazel Chu. Credit: Conor McCabe.

Dublin lord Mayor Hazel Chu talks to Adam Hyland about taking a hands-on approach during an unusual year.

For most people, the last year has brought many changes to how and where we work as the COVID-19 pandemic meant closing offices and doing our jobs remotely. This has been no different for even the highest office in Dublin City, with Lord Mayor Hazel

Chu faced with an unprecedented year in which the usual representative events have been limited, but it is something she has embraced, transforming the role of the Lord Mayor in the process.

“It was unusual,” Lord Mayor Chu agrees, “because normally the Mansion

House is used for lots of functions and events, and we go out to a lot of events in the community, but we couldn’t do that.

The role is very ceremonial, so given the circumstances, I transformed it and with the support of the City Managers, we made it more policy-focused.”

HANDS-ON

One of these policies that the Lord Mayor took forward was the establishment of a Homeless Task Force, which saw her meet regularly with the Minister for Housing to see where reforms could be brought in. Though the solutions to such a large issue will not happen overnight, this has met with initial success, thanks to this more hands-on approach to the position of Lord Mayor.

“One of the five tasks that we have asked for – the Day Service – is already under way,” Lord Mayor Chu tells me. “We are also creating a framework for an integration strategy at the moment, and in terms of COVID-19 and mobility, we have put in place more measures. There has been a lot more working with the City Managers on the policy side of things. So, it was completely different to other years, but it was something we had to do,” she adds.

Using the position to get results through action rather than standing as a symbolic figure is something Lord Mayor Chu would like to see develop over time, and with this comes her view of another change that is needed.

“I’ve spoken to previous mayors, the Chief Executive and other councillors

Lord Mayor Hazel Chu has changed the symbolic role with a hands-on approach. Credit: Conor McCabe

“All of the mayors have done an amazing job previously, but you have got to have a mayor who is elected by the people”

about it, and I think it is time we saw a directly elected mayor in Dublin,” She tells me. “All of the mayors have done an amazing job previously, but you have got to have a mayor who is elected by the people, and their function should be to do something: essentially to run the city.”

When I ask if she would be interested in taking on that elected role, Lord Mayor Chu is quick to answer: “Absolutely, if people would let me!” she says. “It is already something I am trying to set up, that the Offi ce of Mayor’s mandate would be one that involves actually running things. That doesn’t mean being power-hungry, but it does mean working with people, and a lot of what we do here in the Council and local government is working with various departments and people, so it wouldn’t be too big a change.”

PRIORITIES

Holding offi ce during a year when so many events were cancelled meant that the Lord Mayor couldn’t lead St Patrick’s Day - arguably the biggest day of the year as leader of the city – but Lord Mayor Chu remains philosophical.

“I would never play down St Patrick’s Day as unimportant because it is very important for the city,” she tells me. “I sit on the Board for the festival and am incredibly proud of the work we have done this year to transition it online. But having said that, it is just another day. There is so much more happening in this city and country at the moment, so as much as we miss it, we know there will be other St Patrick’s Days, and we have to look at the bigger picture.

“People do ask if I miss having functions and guests to the Mansion House,” Lord Mayor Chu continues, “but I am in an incredibly privileged position. Anything that hasn’t happened this year isn’t a loss, it’s more positive to look at what we have been doing instead.”

As head of the City Council, the Lord Mayor has traditionally been a keen supporter of Dublin Fire Brigade, attending events such as recruit pass out and other promotional campaigns to highlight the work of the fi re service, and even though this hasn’t been possible for the most part, Lord Mayor Chu has shown great support for the organisation.

“Even before I became Mayor, I had several tie-ins with DFB, and think they do a fantastic job,” she tells me. “DFB is frontline, an essential emergency service, and it’s everything that people should be proud of. The Fact that DFB is very open and transparent about the job, as seen with their Twitter account, is great. You can feel their presence and know you are being looked after in the city, and that is really important.”

DFB SUPPORT

This support was clear when Lord Mayor Chu was openly critical of the delays in delivering COVID-19 vaccines to DFB members, and advocated for the safety of the emergency services by directly intervening and asking the HSE for answers.

“I was very annoyed about it,” she admits. “It’s obvious that DFB members should have been vaccinated early on. I get where the HSE is coming from in terms of categorisation, but I obviously don’t agree with a lot of it. DFB are frontline and carrying out essential services every day, putting themselves at risk, and so they need to be protected.

“When I contacted the HSE, the answer I got was: ‘It is within the timeframe of the category we have allotted it for’ and I couldn’t take this for an answer, so I ended up calling them, and that proved more useful because I got a direct answer. But the whole thing was really frustrating.

“The ball was dropped in terms of how DFB members were informed, or not informed, how they thought things were going to happen that then didn’t, and they were seeing posts online saying that other groups or organisations were getting vaccinated before them. That does form a sort of divisiveness. All I was asking the HSE for was a date, a ballpark fi gure that would at least make people happier knowing they could look forward to it.

“From that whole saga I think there were defi nite learnings, including being realistic with people, not overpromising, and also the need for better communication.”

“DFB IS frontline, an essential emergency service, everything that people should be proud of”

Lord Mayor Hazel Chu with her mother and ADC Martin McCabe of DFB. Credit: Conor McCabe.

CHANGE

Going back to the point of taking a hands-on approach to her role, Lord Mayor Chu sees the need for change in the city post-pandemic.

“Dublin is what I call ‘a donut with a hole in it’,” she tells me. “Everything used to be concentrated in the centre, but now everything is in the periphery, which is great because you have thriving villages, but the centre is empty. Obviously, lockdown plays a big part in this and there is no tourism, nobody going to offi ces, but what is our road map for what happens after that?

“I sit on the Night Time Economy Task Force, and there is a lot to be done in terms of planning what Dublin city will look like in the next year as we come out of the pandemic. There is a lot that can be changed when it comes to the city and this is why our Development Plan is so important, because we want people to feed into how we can look at the space we have in the city differently so that we can better use it.”

Such issues are discussed every Friday on ‘Chu and Chats’, a live broadcast set up by Lord Mayor Chu, which helps to raise the talking points around plans and strategies so that everybody can be informed about the decisions being made regarding the city.

“The reason behind the series was that after setting up the Homeless Task Force and our Integration Strategy, I realised

Attending the Winter Lights launch in Smithfield last year where members of the emergency services were honoured with their images projected onto the square. Credit: Conor McCabe.

“There has been a real willingness to get things done, and I am proud to say that I hope I have played some part in that”

that we needed to start communicating with people about the work we were doing,” she tells me. “I work closely with the Housing Department, Integration Office and Transport Office, but how do I showcase the work being done? This is a way of showcasing it.

“I was also asking myself: How do we answer the many questions that come into the Office about what is going on in the city? So, I went to the various departments and offices who were all very eager in fairness, and so far, we have had good discussions.”

SUCCESSION

Lord Mayor Chu will be in office until June, but she has firm hopes that the changes she has made to the role will remain. “I do hope my successor continues with the hands-on approach, because there is certainly room for it,” she tells me. “There are a lot of councillors who would be very good in the role. This house has seen a lot of mayors – 352 in fact – and every one has had a different approach. It just so happened that I came in during this period when I had to do the job differently.”

With just a few months to go in office, Lord Mayor Chu looks back on her time with satisfaction.

“It has been an unprecedented time to take on the job, and it is hard to say I enjoyed it because there was so much loss,” she admits. “But I am glad to have had the role. I got into this because I wanted to help in my community, represent people, and I am happy I got to do my job well, because if I had just been sent out to represent the Office at events, as great as that is, it wouldn’t have worked well in this current climate.”

ACHIEVEMENT

Despite the challenges, there are many things for Lord Mayor Chu to be proud of about her tenure, with the work done with the city’s homeless chief among them.

“The Day Service is such a small thing but it is so essential,” she says. “When I was told it would be rolled out, I was delighted because it is something that is now happening. There is also better connectivity between the various organisations and the Department of Housing in how we work together and I am very proud of that,” she adds. “On a Council level, I think a lot of councillors have worked very well with me this year across parties, and we have been able to deliver on things that previously we weren’t even able to agree on. There has been a real willingness to get things done, and I am proud to say that I hope I have played some part in that.”

More can be done, though, Lord Mayor Chu admits. “My mother gives out to me for asking too much of myself,” she says, “but in a way, I don’t think I have done enough, because there is always so much more to do. Again, going back to the Homelessness Task Force, there were five elements to that, so there are still those that haven’t been enacted yet, as well as other plans yet to be implemented, and I won’t be here when that happens, so I am hoping future Lord Mayors, even if they have different priorities, will continue the good work done this year. But do I think I have done enough? Not even close.”

When I ask how she would like her time in the Mansion House to be remembered, Lord Mayor Chu is quick to quip: “Well, it’s not like I will be remembered for drinking the place dry! But in all honesty, I would like to be remembered for being constructive and trying to make the position of Lord Mayor a more hands-on role.”

Mere ceremonial representation taking a back seat, proactive participation from the Mansion House coming to the fore, and the amount of great work being done at City Council level would suggest that Lord Mayor Chu has succeeded in making that change, and Dublin City will be the better for it if this becomes a permanent approach from those who come after her.