DIRECTLY Elected Mayor candidate John Moran confirmed that he is stepping down entirely from the board of Shannon Airport and the Limerick Economic Forum.
The Independent candidate, who has already resigned from prominent roles at several other important local organisations, says it was important to lead by example.
This move now comes to show Limerick voters “early and emphatically” that should he be elected, his office would not tolerate conflicts of interests – at the top or at any other level.
The Mungret-Patrickswell man believes that we should show the rest of Ireland how this can work, how it will work and “how it must work if we are to understand and grasp the opportunities that this historic reform gives us”.
“That has to start with visible and strict demarcation and greater transparency in the areas of budget, contracts, lobbying and careful control of who sits on different boards, especially when dealing with organisations contracting with or in receipt of funds from the local authority.
“As Secretary General of the Department of Finance, I introduced new practices in this area to ensure greater transparency and I shall be doing likewise if elected as Mayo,” Mr Moran told the Limerick Post.
“Our elected mayor will be making decisions about large budget allocations which will benefit some, but not all, organisations operating in Limerick. Only by operating with real integrity and transparency, can the new mayor win the confidence of every single person in this county and city. Favouritism should not be tolerated and decisions should be based on merit alone.”
Moran went onto say that to minimise any perception of conflicting loyalties, and conscious of the need to ‘practice what I preach’, he wants to put some clear water over the remaining ten week period of the election.
“The integrity of these various groups and the safeguarding of their ability to access future local authority funding is also important as is the integrity of the mayoral office.” he said.
“We’re better than that — we’re certainly going to be — we’re aiming a lot higher. I believe there is no reason Limerick should not voluntarily bring in a culture of transparency and integrity even if it is more stringent than the rules imposed on candidates by the Government.”
Mr Moran said he has already advised the Minister for Transport and informed the board of Shannon Airport at last week’s board meeting of his decision and has stepped down from his role at the Limerick Economic Forum.
He added also that the integrity of any potential future decision of his to allocate local authority funds, is protected by the fact that he has already stepped away from his board roles with local charities benefiting from support from Limerick Council, notably the UL Foundation; Liveable Limerick; Narrative 4 and the Hunt Museum.
