MAYOR John Moran’s job is near impossible to do “because Fianna Fรกil and Fine Gael don’t want to give up what they had”.ย
That’s according to Independent councillor Jerome Scanlan, who believes that the two majority political parties in Limerick City and County Council have been “sulking” since Mayor Moran took office last year.
The former Fine Gael man is calling for Limerick’s directly-elected Mayor to sit down with Council leaders in Fianna Fรกil and Fine Gael to iron out their differences for the good of the people.
“The Mayor’s job is near on impossible because the two main parties don’t want to give up what they had, and this is where the issue is.,” Cllr Scanlan told the Limerick Post in an exclusive interview.
“They have an issue with the Mayor. From my own view, independence is number one. I’m happy to be an independent member of the local authority for the time I remain.”
Cllr Scanlan suggested that “some, not all, members of Fianna Fรกil and Fine Gael are sulking”.
“Reality needs to be brought into the mix here. The people of Limerick decided they wanted to elect a Mayor, and from once they elected it, we should cop on, but that is not happening,” he hit out.
“We’ve already wasted 14/15 months, so absolutely we should be working with the Mayor.”
Cllr Scanlan described the last meeting of the full constellation of the Council’s elected members before the summer recess in July as “the greatest fiasco”.
“It was nothing more than a Mayor bashing event,” he declared.
The Newcastle West area representative said that the one thing he feels needs most improving on within the local authority is communication. This is something he would like to see improved on during this term of the current Council.
“I really think that having a director general and a mayor is not the answer to our issues, because you’re going between Billy and Jack. That is one aspect of the mayoral legislation that I think will fail,” he said.
“If you have one, you don’t have the other. I’m not sure whether the Mayor should chair meetings either. But from what I’ve seen so far, between the Prรญomh Chomhairleoir and the Mayor, it is like fire and water, and I’m not blaming the Mayor.
“The Mayor has kitchen cabinets now and the director general has kitchen cabinets, but when will the twain meet?”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
