MAYOR of Limerick John Moran has spoken out following his decision not to close The Crescent on O’Connell Street in the city next month as part of the August Animations festival.
A statement issued by Mayor Moran confirmed that he pitched the month-long mini festival last year as a way of transforming urban spaces into hubs for culture and community in Limerick City.
A number of streets, including The Crescent, were closed to traffic last year to facilitate the August events, but one street in particular received widespread criticism from local councillors and businesses at the time.
It was confirmed earlier this Monday (July 21) that The Crescent will now remain open throughout the month of August.
In his statement, the Mayor remarked that when he “began thinking about what August Animations 2025 may look like, I wanted to build on the success of our small pilot in August 2024”.
Mayor Moran acknowledged that some people felt “discommoded by removing traffic from one or two blocks in our city centre over the holiday period last year”, but believes “we saw countless examples and images of a new-found joy on our streets and that was inspiring to all involved” last year.
“It was those images of Limerick which travelled across the country and beyond,” he added.
However the Mayor said it became clear to him in early July that the programme he hoped to deliver, even with an increased budget, on a value-for-money basis compared to last year, was not feasible.
“I could not convince myself that paying for what was then planned for this year, especially with the costs of increased manning of road closures was good value for money. In this context, I believed the more responsible choice, and one I was not afraid to make, was to step back and reassess how we might deliver differently and better in future years,” his statement read.
Mayor Moran went on to say that he did not think it right to resign a last minute scaled-back version that may not deliver on expectations and include high costs of the extra road closures across Georgian Limerick and Irishtown.
He also acknowledged the local acts and groups that were lined up to perform and, as a result, has agreed to reallocate “the same budget as we allocated last year” directly to the festivals and events team at Limerick City and County Council, who will use the funding to supplement programming for other parts of the city centre this August.
Additional unused funding will be used for other city centre animations in the future.
“I realise many will be disappointed by this news, especially local residents and their children, many of whom will not be able to get away from Limerick for the holidays. But make no mistake, like many others, I remain committed to the broader vision of a more animated, welcoming city centre,” Mayor Moran said.
“As our Public Realm and Transport Strategies near completion and the greening of Georgian Limerick planned in the Mayoral Programme is advanced, we will soon have clearer frameworks to support future events and street activations. This is a mere tactical retreat from our ultimate ambition of making Limerick a better place. It is a pause to ensure we build something stronger.”
