Dublin is competing with Edinburgh and London to capture the Academy of Urbanism's "Great European City of the Year" award, while
St Stephen's Green has made the academy's shortlist to be named as a "Great Place".
The Green competes with two much-admired new places in Britain - Borough Market in London and Brindleyplace in Birmingham - in the academy's inaugural awards scheme, with the final result to be announced in November.
"What's now going to happen is that the academy will come to Dublin and get people there to tell us why it's the greatest city and St Stephen's Green the best place," said John Thompson, the community architect who chairs the Academy of Urbanism.
"We'll probably set up a long table in St Stephen's Green during the summer to hear directly from Dubliners why they think it's so special and why they believe that Dublin itself is so lively, thriving and vibrant to be named as the great European city of the year.
"The challenge is made now, and the campaign starts today," Mr Thompson said. "It's really up to Dublin to persuade us that it's better than either London or Edinburgh and that St Stephen's Green is a wonderful place that people really enjoy."
There were no other Irish places shortlisted for any of the academy's other awards, although several were nominated, including Cork, Kilkenny, Westport, and Ranelagh in Dublin which was in contention for the "Great Neighbourhood" award.
For the "Great Town" award, the competition is now confined to the English towns of Lincoln, Ludlow and St Ives, while the shortlist for "great neighbourhood" is Clerkenwell (London), Merchant City (Glasgow) and Clifton (Bristol).
Frank McDonald is a founder member of the Academy of Urbanism
