Brenda Fricker to be nominated for Freedom of Dublin City

Sarah Slater

Academy Award-winning actor Brenda Fricker is expected to be nominated to receive the Freedom of Dublin City.

The 80-year-old agreed to the nomination following discussions with the current Lord Mayor of Dublin, Fine Gael’s Ray McAdam.

Earlier on Monday, there was a meeting of the protocol committee of Dublin City Council who agreed to the her nomination.

The Lord Mayor confirmed that he will be addressing the council on Monday before the start of the monthly meeting to nominate Fricker who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1989 drama My Left Foot.

She starred beside fellow actor Daniel Day Lewis who won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

Fricker, who lives in The Liberties, but now resides in Dublin 8, is also known for her role in the Box Office hit Home Alone 2, Lost in New York and Angels in Outfield.

The Lord Mayor confirmed that a meeting to discuss her nomination took place on Monday morning and if councillors agree to her receiving the Freedom she will become the 91st person to be awarded the accolade.

Cllr McAdam said: “She is a really genuine person, a Dubliner and great craic. I have spoken with her over the past few months about the potential of her being nominated and she said she would be delighted to accept.

“She has suffered some ill health of late and I hope this lifts her spirits,” the Lord Mayor added.

Prior to becoming an actor, she worked as a journalist with The Irish Times.

The Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin is the highest and most prestigious award Dublin City can bestow.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin nominates people for the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin, and a meeting of the City Council must ratify each one.

While no financial benefits are attached to the award, holders of the Honorary Freedom of Dublin have some ancient privileges and duties not applicable to ordinary citizens, some of which have little more than symbolic meaning in the modern world.

Ancient Privileges include the right to bring goods into Dublin through the city gates, without paying customs duties, and to pasture sheep on common ground within the city boundaries, including modern-day College Green (formerly Hoggen Green) and St Stephen’s Green.

Also the right to vote in municipal and parliamentary elections.

Other well known names to have been given the Freedom are U2’s Bono, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jnr, Nelson Mandela, The Dubliner’s Ronnie Drew, former cyclist Stephen Roche, and playwright George Bernard Shaw.