The Live Animal Crib at the Mansion House in Dublin has been officially opened.
The Lucan Gospel Choir, the Little Angels from St Joseph’s Nursery on Morning Star Road in Dublin 8 and the children of Belclare National School in Galway took part in the opening ceremony.
The crib is a joint initiative between Dublin City Council and the Irish Farmers’ Association.
Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Donna Cooney invited the public to stop by the Mansion House and visit the crib.
“Children and grown-ups of all ages are welcome to drop by and share some festive joy,” she said.
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Councillor Cooney told RTÉ News: “It’s so festive it looks absolutely wonderful”.
Asked if she had any concerns about animal welfare after her Green Party colleague Caroline Conway raised the issue when she was Lord Mayor a few years ago, the Deputy Lord Mayor said: “I’m happy that the welfare of the animals is being taken care of. They seem very relaxed and happy and don’t seem any way anxious. There’s a lot of joy here at this event.”
Francie Gorman, President of the IFA said the tradition started in 1995. “The idea was to give something back to the people of Dublin. We’ve always been made feel very welcome. It’s our capital city, anytime we came that was the feeling we got, and to give something back to help bridge that gap between town and city.”
The sheep, goat and donkey are brought to the crib every morning and taken home in the evening to the Gallagher family farm.
Children from Belclare National School in Galway had an early start to get to the Mansion for the event.
One of their number, Amy O’Flaherty won the Agri-Aware poetry competition with a poem to celebrate the contribution of farmers to Christmas
She read it out, including the lines: “There’s lots to drink and eat, without the busy farmers there’d be no veg or meat.”
The crib is open everyday from 11am to 4pm until Monday, 23 December and will be open from 11am to 1pm on Christmas Eve.
