NEWLY elected Mayor of Limerick City and County, Cllr James Collins is looking to plan the future Limerick — a Limerick that works for everyone.
Cllr Collins was elected at County Hall last Friday by a 27 to 8 majority to become the fifth person to be elected as Mayor of the City and County of Limerick since the amalgamation of the two Limerick local authorities. He was proposed by party colleague Michael Collins and seconded by another party colleague Kieran O’Hanlon.
In his inaugural address, the Fianna Fail politician vowed to do his best to represent both city and county.
“The European Investment Bank and The Council of Europe Development Bank believed in Limerick’s big ideas enough to loan us €150 million. We are seeing the fruit of our planning with 3,000 jobs created in Limerick last year. Limerick’s future looks bright. But, now is the time for the next set of big ideas. We need to generate 3,000 jobs every year,” Mayor Collins declared.
“The Opera Centre, Gardens International, and Mungret Park projects all started with an idea. Together with Limerick Twenty Thirty, this council and the people of Limerick thought big. Now Limerick has its own movie studio.
“So, I’d like the public and this council to think big about the next Troy studio type project, or the next concert, cultural or civic event, that would add to life in Limerick. The citizens have shown already through their engagement with Liveable Limerick, that they have lots of ideas for enhancing Limerick life. Limerick is changing and we have to plan for the 50 per cent increase in population that is projected by 2040.”
Mayor Collins also believes a radical re-imagining of Limerick’s transport network, including a mix of light rail, tram, bus, park and ride and cycle lanes.
“Years ago, plans were put in place to create a Limerick that works for multinationals, for FinTech, for Pharma, for Netflix, for Stats. I think we should now devote as much time and attention to the issue of how we live in this beautiful, historic, riverside city as we have previously invested in planning for jobs growth.
“We need to ensure that in every area – employment, education, housing, transport, health and crime prevention – that we are planning ahead for Limerick. There are plenty of challenges but we must get busy planning a Limerick that works for all of us,” he concluded.
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