LIMERICK Mayor John Moran’s 101 plan for actions to be delivered in the first 101 days of his mayoral programme were deemed “totally aspirational” this week.
Mayor Moran’s 101 actions were developed in tandem with the three core pillars of his election manifesto, seeking to deliver ‘More for Limerick’: a more liveable Limerick, a more healthy Limerick, and a more prosperous Limerick.
Roads, housing, health, EV charging, dereliction, and tourism promotion all feature strongly in the list of 101 actions, compiled by the Mayor’s office in collaboration with staff at Limerick City and County Council.
However, Fine Gael councillor Stephen Keary had some hard questions for the new mayor at this Monday’s full council meeting.
He wanted to know if Mayor Moran’s plans were all costed and how he proposed to achieve more affordable housing for Limerick.
“There’s millions needed there if you were trying to aspire to do what you are saying,” Cllr Keary said.
“Supporting construction and tourism, that’s fine. But how can you help public health infrastructure and mental health initiatives? That’s not part of our remit.
“We can sit on the HSE’s Western Health Board where we can call it, but that’s as far as we can go,” he opined.
“How can we improve health measures? This is totally aspirational.”
Mayor Moran strongly disagreed with Keary’s comments, saying that he had heard “a lot of very big problems that are occupying the minds of the people voting in Limerick” during the elections, including housing and mental health.
Referencing the gathering around him, Mayor Moran said that “this is the chamber that will be setting out the Development Plan for Limerick in a couple of years’ time, which, if the Planning Act goes ahead, will actually be for 10 years, not just for five or six. So this is the chamber that will actually set the future direction of Limerick for perhaps as much as 10 or 20 years.”
The Mayor said that the kind of numbers he had written about in his plan “are minuscule in the context of the numbers that are needed for them. I will be looking for all your help to actually make this point to government ministers and others.”
The 101 actions in Mayor Moran’s plan will deliver on projects and initiatives across the county. However the early steps will have focus on Limerick City Centre to help bolster tourist offering over the summer period and provide a boost to local retail businesses.
The full list of the Mayor’s 101 actions can be found on limerick.ie.
