ALTHOUGH new to politics, Fianna Fáil’s candidate for the upcoming mayoral elections, Dee Ryan, brings a lot of experience to her hunt for the coveted role. When I caught up with her at the Treaty Stone recently, it was clear that she is giving it 110 per cent and enjoying every minute of it.
Having just stepped down from her role as Limerick Chamber CEO, she is well capable of talking the talk, and does so impeccably in her all-confident stride.
Hailing from Castleconnell, Ms Ryan attended Castleconnell National School, followed by Laurel Hill Secondary School. She studied business at University of Limerick before establishing SME ‘Spark Marketing’ in the city centre.
She was appointed to CEO at Limerick Chamber in 2018 and has since represented the business community on various boards and two government taskforces, including the Implementation Advisory Group for the very legislation which made the mayoral role she now seeks possible.
A mother of four, Ms Ryan steered Limerick Chamber during the tumultuous Covid period, when the business community was plunged into grave uncertainty overnight. A mayoral election, in comparison, is child’s play, and Dee is well capable for the challenge ahead if elected to the big chair in City Hall.
‘I haven’t done a pointer yet, I can’t wait’
As she poses for photographs along the banks of the River Shannon, she admits that she doesn’t know what to do with her hands – something many seasoned politicians still struggle with when a camera is pointed in their direction. Boldly, I suggest that she point at the Curragower Falls behind her.
“I haven’t done a pointer yet, I can’t wait. Then you are really in politics,” she suggests playfully.
Cool, calm, and totally collected after posing for the cameras, she tells me she is finding this role is very different, but she is clearly in her element. Beaming as always, she is genuinely warm and affable, making for a real approachable and dynamic addition to local politics.
“I am really enjoying the meeting people part,” she tells me.
“Getting into the Chamber and having the job there, I felt so privileged. It gave you a helicopter view of being able to go into rooms and learn things about Limerick that I didn’t know before. This is kind of similar to that, but in a different way. I am getting to meet community groups, visit resource centres, getting exposed to how much more is happening in Limerick. It’s incredible.”
During her time with Limerick Chamber, Dee has been a prominent voice advocating for improved connectivity to Shannon Airport, highlighting the importance of air access into the region for securing foreign direct investment.
Housing, transport, green energy
She is also a vocal critic of the lack of affordable housing in Limerick, urging the local authority and government to bring forward more affordable homes across the board.
If elected mayor, she says her priorities would be delivery of affordable housing, improved transport and connectivity across the county, and seizing the green energy opportunity from the Shannon Estuary to secure sustainable jobs for Limerick.
At the helm of Limerick Chamber, she has grown in confidence and found her voice. Never shy to express her views, she even resigned from her role in the Chamber to focus on her campaign and considers the role an important one for Limerick.
“I have been involved in looking at the role since the very beginning. I would have been navigating within the Chamber to give support to the plebiscite. Then when it came round to developing the implementation advisory group, I was a member of that. It’s something I have been very interested in for a number of years and been close to. In many ways it just feels like it has been taking all I have been doing for the last five and a half years and bringing it up a level,” she says.
“I am from Limerick, I love Limerick, and I have felt during my term in the Chamber that it was a privilege to focus on one aspect full-time. This is a much broader role and there’s an opportunity to make decisions around things that will impact on people’s lives in Newcastle West, Patrickswell, Foynes, Glin, Abbeyfeale, Kilmallock, Castleconnell, and across the city and county.
“This, for me, is an opportunity to be in the kind of position where you can pursue the kind of changes you’d like to see to improve things for the benefit of local communities.”
She believes in the mayoral role and the impact it can have, and she has given up her livelihood to pursue it.
“The role is intended to, and I think it will, make local government more successful. This isn’t all about the mayor, this is about local government. It’s about working well with councillors, it’s about every area in Limerick electing who they believe should be representing their views at council, and then the mayor working closely with those councillors to ensure the overall delivery and kind of changes communities want to see.”
Injecting positivity
One of the changes Ms Ryan is hearing about from people on the doorsteps is improving the city centre and making it a more attractive place to spend time.
“We’re at as close to full employment as we’ve been in 20 years at the moment, so people are aware that there’s work and the economy is ticking away. Some companies are doing very well, not just the multinationals. There’s a lot of fantastic Limerick companies that are scaling and growing. There’s great innovation and energy and vibrancy in the regional economy, but we are not seeing that reflected on our main streets, in our homes and villages, and that can be disheartening,” she tells me.
“People are doing their best and they don’t feel that positivity that they potentially have in other aspects of their lives is being reflected in their environment. I think that’s something we need to tackle.
“It’s not anyone’s fault, it is a reflection of the changes in how we shop and the way we work, but we really need to focus on how we bring those mains streets as a very visible part of everyone’s environment to the standard we would like them to be at.
“My focus is on people in communities, public realm, tackling dereliction and vacancy, and to make sure we have the enforcement to bring those buildings back into productive use.”
