Dublin’s live animal crib will return this year after finding a new home in St Stephen’s Green.
The Christmas staple, in place since 1995, had been cancelled this year after the Lord Mayor decided to remove the live animals element from the crib outside the Mansion House.
However, following discussions with the Irish Farmers’ Association, the OPW has announced that a new home has been found for the live crib in the Summer House in St Stephen’s Green.
It will return to the capital on Thursday, December 8, and provide shelter to Lilly the goat, Daisy the donkey and two lambs to tell the story of the Christmas nativity.
For nearly 30 years, members of the Sherlock family have shepherded animals to the specially installed stables, previously located outside the Mansion House.
It has been a fixture outside the Lord Mayor’s offices each Christmas since 1995, part of a joint initiative between the council and the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
However, the live element of the crib was cancelled last month by the current Lord Mayor, Green Party councillor Caroline Conroy.
She said there would be no reversing the decision to remove live animals, but they are working on an alternative crib.
In a statement, the IFA said St Stephen’s Green will provide “a calm setting for the farm animals and for families to bring their children to view the crib in the weeks leading up to Christmas”.
The animals will be tended to onsite every day by their owner and will return to their farm in Wicklow each afternoon.