Dr Tony Holohan has been awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin on behalf of all healthcare workers.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu conferred the honorary award on the Chief Medical Officer after reaching agreement with all Dublin City Councillors.
The honour was awarded to recognise the "immense effort and tireless work" carried out by Dr Holohan's team and all healthcare workers in Ireland throughout the course of the pandemic.
Dr Holohan rose to national prominence in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic here as he chaired the influential National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET).
The resolution was passed at a council meeting on June 6, and the conferral ceremony took place in the Oak Room of the Mansion House in Dawson Street on Tuesday, with just Dr Holohan’s family present.
Dr Holohan signed the Roll of Honorary Freedom and accepted the award on behalf of all health care workers, thanking the members of Dublin City Council for the recognition of the work done over this past year by the Public Health Team.
The Freedom of the city has been awarded to just 82 people since the first recipient in 1876.
The most recent award was conferred to former Dublin football manager Jim Gavin.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu said: “In conferring on Dr Holohan, and through him our health care workers, the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin, we recognise the immense effort and tireless work carried out by all our health care staff and we want to, through this award, say a big thank you for their efforts and sacrifices. It has been an extremely difficult 16 months and we owe our public health workers and frontline staff an enormous debt.”
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