Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin is among a number of sites offered as an alternative location for this year’s live crib which is not being hosted at the Mansion House, where it has been a Christmas feature for 27 years.
Dublin’s Lord Mayor, Cllr Caroline Conroy, announced last week that she planned to mark Christmas at the Dawson Street premises by turning it into a “winter wonderland”. She said this would involve choirs, sleighs and post boxes, leaving no room for a crib, and would “bring more fun, excitement and interaction”.
“It will be more inclusive for more people‚” the Green Party member said.
The crib, which involved goats, sheep and donkeys, was operated under a partnership with the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) and supervised by the Dublin Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The society said it was “disappointed” by the decision, which would deprive inner-city children of a rare opportunity to see live farm animals.
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Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown mayor Mary Hanafin has put in a bid to provide a home for the live crib, pointing out that the council has plenty of “available safe space” either around the harbour or near the shopping district.
Dermot Dunne, Dean of Christ Church, said the cathedral would “be very glad” to have the crib in its gardens. There was adequate space and it would “fit in very nicely,” he said.
His comments followed a suggestion by former president Mary McAleese, a canon of Christ Church cathedral, in an email sent to Cllr Conroy and copied to IFA president Tim Cullinan. She asked the Lord Mayor “to reconsider the decision”, noting that next year would mark the 800th anniversary of the first live crib being set up by St Francis at Greccio, Italy.
It could be “a great opportunity for the Mansion House to showcase St Francis’ legendary care for the earth and the poor,” she said.
Referring to the lord mayor’s interview with Bryan Dobson on RTÉ radio last Friday, Ms McAleese said she “was not persuaded by the reasons you advanced for dropping the live crib and even less captivated by the winter wonderland you described” as an alternative.
What the lord mayor proposed, she said, lacked “the haunting beauty of the well-loved nativity story of peace and goodwill to all, which is part of the Judaic, Islamic and Christian narratives.”
“I appeal to you to think again and make provision for integrating the live crib into your winter wonderland project. That would capture all hearts and make for a very special and deep experience,” she said.
“I know that even allowing your decision to stand, there will, thanks to the IFA and public opinion, be a live crib in the city centre for many other options have already been offered and will be pursued including the wonderful Christchurch cathedral with its 1,000 years of pastoral service to Dublin.”
Should the Lord Mayor continue with the decision to remove the live crib “the role of the Mansion House would be diminished to say nothing of the role of the Mayor,” Ms McAleese said. “By far the best option for all would be to include the crib in your plans and set up a great prelude to the 800th anniversary of Greccio in 2023,” she concluded.
A spokesman for the IFA said its immediate priority was to secure a meeting with the lord mayor. “It is a 27 year partnership and preparations were already in place,” he said, adding that “the first the IFA knew of this was when we got a call from a journalist asking for a comment”.
The live crib was a “gift to the people of Dublin from the farmers of Ireland,” he said.
