WHILE councillors consider Mayor John Moran’s plans for Limerick to be ambitious and full of good ideas, they are not all convinced he can deliver.
The county’s first directly-elected mayor recently completed a draft of his mayoral plan – the document that will guide his actions for the coming five years – which will go before all 40 members of Limerick City and County Council for consideration next Monday at a special meeting before a final draft is completed.
This week, the Limerick Post reached out to local councillors ahead of the special meeting for their take on Moran’s mayoral vision.
Aontú councillor Sarah Beasley said she wholeheartedly supports the Mayor’s programme, which “covers, without doubt, a variety of key areas to be rectified, added, and improved with some really out-of the box-thinking”.
“Is it ambitious? Yes. Is it achievable? I certainly hope so,” she commented.
Cllr Beasley considers the expansion of addiction facilities and increasing hostel beds in the Mayor’s plans a crucial component of the programme, saying “it also aligns with one of the key promises I made during my campaign. I look forward to working closely with the Mayor, whom I believe to be innovative and driven.”
Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan took a different viewpoint, saying: “Honestly, I think the mayoral programme is setting all of us councillors up for failure.”
“I put in our asks and attended all the briefings and meetings for this programme. At each meeting, the goalposts changed for what the Mayor wanted,” she hit out.
“The Mayor made some big promises during his campaign, not least including solving the housing crisis. If he cannot deliver on those promises, it is down to him and not us councillors who have spent the summer adding and finalising this programme to exactly what the Mayor wishes, of which I am not still sure what he wants.
“We have done the best we can do and I hope it delivers for Limerick.”
Fianna Fáil councillor Catherine Slattery believes there are some very good ideas in the draft plan which she hopes come to light during Moran’s term.
“What I do not see, and I have made this known to the Mayor, is that there are no plans from Hyde Road to Bloodmill Road and the areas in between,” she said.
“These areas are part of my electoral area and very close to my heart. It would be great to see some of my suggestions, such as a dog walking park for the people of Castletroy View.”
Cllr Slattery said that “what the Mayor needs to remember is that we are councillors, some of us in political parties, elected by the people who have voted for us, and our suggestions and priorities, need to be taken in to account”.
Labour Party councillor Joe Leddin considers the plan ambitious in terms of harnessing the potential to grow and develop Limerick.
“The real test as to whether the Government really do want to see the new directly-elected mayor role work will come once the Budget is announced, as many of the larger strategic initiatives in areas like housing, community development, and transport require exchequer funding,” Cllr Leddin said.
The City West representative believes the real opportunity for the mayor going forward is to ensure that there is better coordination between various state agencies when developing new projects or introducing new services for the city.
Sinn Féin councillor Ursula Gavan deemed the draft plan an ambitious programme, with “many elements of which I would support, but it’s not at all clear how it will be delivered in practice.”
“We need results, not just sound bytes,” she said.
Independent councillor Maria Donoghue believes the mayoral programme truly reflects the quantity of work required from both the elected representatives and the Council executive to place Limerick back where it should be.
“This programme of work will be an onerous undertaking and completion of each task will be difficult, but I believe we must strive to achieve as much as possible within our five-year term,” she told the Limerick Post.
“Sitting back and stating that the programme is too difficult or over-ambitious will not reposition Limerick in its rightful place as the third city of the Republic of Ireland.”
