Dublin eyes Fairtrade accolade

Dublin’s move from 'fair city' to 'Fairtrade city' looks set to go ahead this week, with cross-party support for a bid to become Europe’s first Fairtrade capital.

Councillors are hoping to be able to get the scheme going so that they can achieve Fairtrade status at the same time anti-poverty campaigner Bob Geldof is awarded the freedom of the city in 2006.

Dublin City Council is debating a motion tomorrow to establish support for the plan and set up a steering committee to see the bid succeed.

“I think it’s very important,” Labour Party councillor Eric Byrne, who is spearheading the campaign, said.

“The city has given Bob Geldof the freedom of the city, and he has been very active in campaigning on the Third World.

“Rather than jumping on his bandwagon, we can do something ourselves which would be in line with his ideas, and that would be a very important move.

“That’s the idea – to try and give something back to those who have been campaigning for this.”

Fairtrade gives producers a fair price for their products, or decent wages to employees in larger businesses, to improve living and working conditions and support development.

According to supporters, it allows consumers in the West to use their purchasing power to redress some of the inequality that exists in the trade of goods between developed and developing countries.

Awareness of the movement has grown rapidly over the past few years in Ireland with the number of adults who have heard of Fairtrade rising from 16% in 2002 to 44% in 2004.

It is also backed by a wide range of charities and organisations in the country including Actionaid, Trocraire, Concern, Oxfam, Amnesty and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions.

This week’s council motion is co-sponsored by councillors Bronwen Maher, Vincent Jackson, Eibhlin Byrne, Brian Gillen and Larry O’Toole.

Although it was due to be debated last month it was put off until this week because of time constraints, but Mr Byrne said he was absolutely convinced it would now get the full backing of the council.

Mr Byrne acknowledged that with all-party support, the political demand for Fairtrade status would be the easy part – which would then have to be backed up with hard work.

“To achieve the status, we’ll have to do a lot of work: make contact with schools and industry, broaden the range of Fairtrade goods and work with Fairtrade Ireland,” he said.

Peter Gaynor, Director of Fairtrade Mark Ireland welcomed the decision by Dublin City Council to bid for Fairtrade status and said he hoped the upshot would be the use of their financial resources to promote the movement.

“I think it’s great, the fact that it has cross-party support.

“It’s important as the capital city of Ireland, with most people living here, to make that move,” he said.

“Lots of work has been done by groups and business in Dublin already, such as in the retail sector where there’s a significant number of coffee shops stocking exclusively Fairtrade products,” he added.

Any town or city bidding to achieve Fairtrade status must commit to six criteria:

:: A Fairtrade steering group must be set up to work towards and maintain Fairtrade status.

:: A range of Fairtrade products must be available in local outlets and catering establishments.

:: Fairtrade products must be used by a certain number of businesses and organisations.

:: The council must pass a motion in support of Fairtrade and encourage constituents to back it.

:: Ongoing media coverage needs to be generated to keep the community aware of Fairtrade activities.

:: A significant number of schools must use the educational materials available about Fairtrade.

There are 36 voluntary groups working towards Fairtrade status in their area and already five towns in Ireland have the accreditation – Clonakilty, Cork, Kinsale, Kilkenny and Waterford – with Galway and Limerick set to join the list before the end of the year.

Fairtrade Mark Ireland supports groups with advice and contacts, but Mr Gaynor said it took a lot of work and commitment to meet the criteria.

“It isn’t necessarily about the kudos of becoming a Fairtrade city – it’s not so much a badge of honour as a badge of commitment,” he said.