THERE were no tears shed but councillors were definitely a little choked up at this month’s transportation and infrastructure strategic policy committee meeting at County Hall.
Frayed tempers, raised voices and foot stomping is the kind of emotion that usually emanates from the ranks of councillors having hissy fits over potholes or roundabouts.
But during the final meeting of Limerick County Council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee meeting under the current local authority structures, councillors were far more sedate and pensive than normal.
Perhaps it was because the meeting marked the end of an era, an old way of doing things at local authority level that our public representatives have grown used to circumnavigating over the years.
There is little doubt but that the foremost issue on councillors’ minds was the pressing matter of the local elections on May 23 and the niggling fear that they might not be re-elected. In fact, councillors absent from the historic meeting were already working up a sweat to secure votes.
And as historic as the final meeting was, it was also business as usual for councillors and the local authority executive.
Director of Transportation and Infrastructure, Paul Crowe, reported on a meeting a Council delegation had with the NRA last month. He revealed that the NRA’s budget is “majorly restricted” and additional funding is not available.
“To set the scene for you, during the boom years the NRA’s annual budget was €1.8 billion, in 2014 it is €300 million. That figure will be between €230 and €250 million in 2015 and between €270 and €280 million in 2016,” said Mr Crowe.
However, it was not all bad news, as he also announced that one of the three national major projects the NRA have given priority for in 2014, was the new multi-million euro Limerick to Foynes development on the N69. He told council members that a steering committee was set up for the project and they had their first meeting with the NRA last week.
That foreboding sense of ‘out with the old and in with the new’ was also prevalent as director of water services and environment, Kieran Lehane, spoke of issues raised at council level about Irish Water.
He said that the State had a “colossal task facing them” in setting up the controversial public water utility and described this early phase as a “rebalancing” with a need to “get used to change”.
“The issues councillors bring to light to us are important for us to hear. We want to hear from you and the people you represent. Continue to tell us about these issues as we want to know about them,” he added.
He also went on to express the Council’s thanks to the councillors and voluntary members of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee for their contribution to meetings, which he described an “important means of communication”.
Chairperson of the transportation and infrastructure committee, Rose Brennan (FG) reiterated Mr Lehane’s comments.
“We’re all a bit lonesome. We’ll all be re-elected and back again in September, please God!” she concluded.
