He was the Chairperson of 3rd/40th/41st Dublin, Donnybrook Scout Group, whose Venture Scouts were the winners of the Youth for Development Prize 2005 for their work in Peru. In 2006 he retired as Chairperson and is now the President of the Group, a non-executive position. He has often been a critic of the development of Scouting Ireland since its inception on January 1, 2004, stating that it has moved away from the goals of the creation of a single Scouting Movement in Ireland. He received the Order of the Silver Wolfhound under Scouting Ireland, thus making him an Honorary Member of the Order of CúChulainn. In October 2018 he was elected to the newly constructed Board of Scouting Ireland. In March 2019, following ongoing public discussion about concerns raised about Scouting Ireland's child protection practices, Lacey tweeted criticism of Tusla, saying it was arrogant and “allowed to get away with (it) by a lazy media and gullible politicians”. It followed public statements by the chair of Scouting Ireland that it was not in conflict with Tusla. He subsequently said that his criticism was not of Tusla's engagement with the board he sat on(and his wife's employer), but instead based on his experience in the fostering area. He said no public body "deserved less respect". This was reported in national newspapers. In 2017 to mark the 90th Anniversary of the Donnybrook (formerly CBSI) Scout Group he published a Book, "All the Red Ties", a history of the Group. References External links dermotlacey.ie 1960 births Living people Lord Mayors of Dublin Labour Party (Ireland) politicians Irish environmentalists