By Cormac O’Connor & Colin Higgins

“People remember the chain and the car but they forget the Mayors,” says Lord Mayor Naoise O Muiri. Dublin’s first citizen tells us “the chain’s a gift to the city of Dublin from William of Orange in 1698” as we travel with him in the 12-D-1 car.

TheCity.ie spent a morning with Lord Mayor Naoise O Muiri, in meetings, award ceremonies, walks in Crumlin and travelling in that 12-D-1 car.

The Mayor’s brief attendance at the morning meeting was to welcome those attending a discussion regarding an upcoming multicultural conference in February of next year.

Following that, he presented awards in a ceremony for CDVEC Youthreach, a program which gives early school leavers a second chance.

We then headed south in the Mayoral car where The Mayor Iaunched the Crumlin “Slí na Sláinte” route, a new walk through The Stannaway Park.

The Mayor joined the local school children on the first walk of the route, dealing well with the persistent questions about whether or not his chain was “real gold”.

Exercise is something that Dublin’s first citizen has always been passionate about, having invited runners of all ages to take part in the Lord Mayor’s 5 Alive Challenge – a challenge to complete five road races in Dublin in 2013.

It had been a busy day for the Mayor and it wasn’t even one o’ clock yet, TheCity.ie assumed it would be a nice quiet Christmas at The Mansion House for Naoise, on the contrary it will be an early start for the first citizen: “I’ll be heading to Crumlin’s Children’s hospital at 7:30am on Christmas morning.”

Dublin’s first citizen is also a keen supporter for a directly-elected mayor, and not just for Dublin city but for the whole county: “if we want to compete with other mid-sized European capitals, this is the way to go”.

And what about his proudest moment so far in the job? “Six months is a very short time, it’s hard to achieve anything but organising The Five Alive Road Races was very important for me,” he told us.