IT has been a long time since Garryowen has had a voice at the Council table, but Labour Party councillor Pádraigh Reale is now aiming to change all that, writes Limerick Post reporter Alan Jacques.
Co-opted to Limerick City and Council following the election of the Labour Party’s Conor Sheehan to Dáil Éireann late last year, Cllr Reale now occupies the Labour seat in Limerick City North.
Having heard the 33-year-old speak at meetings of Limerick City and County Council in recent months, it is very obvious that he is passionate about Limerick.
Born and raised in Garryowen, he tells me that he wants to make Limerick an even better place to live, work, and play.
Pádraigh is also passionate about working to address the needs of local communities and representing them to the best of his ability – particularly his own community of Garryowen.
His late grandmother, Kathleen Reale, was a community activist for many years with strong Labour Party values. It is from her the former CBS Sexton Street student developed his own passion for politics.
“My grandmother would have been well known around for many, many years. She passed away three years ago. People would have known her from coming up and down the Canal Bank, where she had one of the fishermen’s huts,” Pádraigh tells me tells me on a sun-drenched morning out on the University of Limerick campus.
“She was a mighty woman and very active in her community for 40 odd years, and I think that’s where my own passion comes from.”
A key moment in Cllr Reale’s own beginnings in community activism came at 13 years of age, together with some friends, pushing for a community centre in their parish.
“We were very young when we started this process through the local youth services for a community centre in Garryowen, which is still an ongoing battle. I suppose from that I got involved in some of the local community development, project management, and stuff like that. I would have been involved in the residents association at the outset,” he says.
Currently working the local Sports Partnership, Pádraigh is impressive with a forthright can-do attitude. Chairman of Geraldines FC, he works at Limerick Sports Partnership as an officer for social innovation in sport.
He is deeply involved in his own local community, and stays active by running, playing football with Geraldines AFC, and GAA with St Patrick’s GAA Club, where he has the privilege of togging out alongside the great Gearóid Hegarty.
A champion in his own right, as a voice for Limerick City North and his own parish of Garryowen, he has a good head on his young shoulders, which he hopes to put to good use advocating for better community facilities and amenities, and building better, cleaner, and safer communities.
“I am conscious that I have to represent all the people of City North. Garryowen has always been my bread and butter, and I now look forward to kind of spreading those wings and expanding my reach. There’s loads to be done,” he says.
“The plan is to get out and meet as many people as possible in the next few months in all the communities. I just want to introduce myself, and my message is ‘if I can do it, I will do it’. I won’t make any promises, but what I have said to everyone I have met so far is, ‘I will do my best to represent you’. That’s all I can do.”
‘You have to be honest with people’
Cllr Reale was quick to make his mark on his early days in Merchant’s Quay, and his honest approach and hardworking ethic will now stand him in good stead as a local representative. Fighting for more resources for childcare supports, crime prevention, and improved events and festivals are high on his wishlist for the coming term.
“I believe you have to be honest with people. I think a lot of people are fed up with empty promises, and that’s not my game,” he tells me.
“My game has always been to get something done, and if I can’t get it done, I will do my best and be straight with people. I’ve had a couple of phone calls where people are ringing me about certain issues, and I’ve had to say, ‘look, there’s nothing I can do for you’ or I have just had to signpost them to a more relevant area or support service.
“My message to people is reach out. I’m there. I’m accessible. I’m there to listen. I’m there to learn, and I’m there to understand your issues. If you have concerns and you need something raised, if you need representation, give me a call, give me a text, or drop me an email and I will meet you. I’ll do my best,” Cllr Reale pledges.
Committed to continuing the work of his predecessor, Deputy Conor Sheehan, I ask Pádraigh about his party colleague’s transition to the big leagues in Dáil Éireann.
“He’s made a good impact. He’s spoken very well. He’s been impressive,” he insists.
“Conor has really good ideas around housing – housing is a huge issue, as we know, for people my own age and people younger. Housing is the biggest standalone issue in this country, along with other issues.
“Funnily enough, I knew Conor’s father before I knew Conor. Peter was very involved in St Patrick’s for many years and was a great stalwart of the club. I met Conor through my wife, Niamh, in 2015, and our friendship kind of blossomed from that.
“Conor then decided he was going to run in local politics and I got involved in his campaign, particularly in my own area. So, I suppose we would have had very constructive and progressive conversations around local politics for many years. He’s very impressive.”
Like his Labour Party colleague up in the Oireachtas, Cllr Reale is too a very impressive young man that could go the distance. A family man at heart, he strongly believes that politics is a job you couldn’t last in without family support.
2025 has been a rollercoaster year of emotions for the first-time councillor so far, filled with highs and lows. Weeks after being co-opted onto Limerick City and County Council, Pádraigh’s father, Patrick, passed away suddenly. Last month then he married his long-term partner Niamh Cahill.
“I would never have taken this role without the support of my mother, Margaret, my wife, Niamh, her family, my brother, my sister, my aunts and uncles, and all my friends. I wouldn’t be where I am without them. It has been hectic but I’m blessed really.”
