“LIMERICK is stuck with a level of bureaucracy that was never needed.”
This was one of the harsh comments made at a hugely emotive meeting of Limerick City and County Council at City Hall in Dooradoyle this Tuesday as concerns were raised about staff moral within the organisation.
This came following a controversial interview last Wednesday morning on Live 95 with Mayor John Moran, who was critical of staff and Council management on delivering for Limerick.
Speaking to Joe Nash on air, Mayor Moran said he had sent back proposals during his time in office he did not feel were “good enough”.
“I believe in looking after public money, as I think everyone does, but it’s a question of higher standards,” Mayor Moran said during the 20-minute interview.
Tuesday’s adjourned meeting on the mayoral fund proved a very “dark moment” in the local authority’s history as Ireland’s first directly-elected Mayor received strong criticism from Council members for his comments on local radio.
Councillors doubled down on their backing of the local authority with a vote of confidence in Council director general Dr Pat Daly and his team.
Fianna Fáil leader on Limerikc Council, Michael Collins, proposed the motion of confidence, telling Mayor Moran that he “literally threw Dr Pat Daly, his executive, and staff of this organisation under the bus”.
“It has been a huge topic of debate among management, staff, councillors and the general public since the toxic interview took place. In all my years, I have never experienced anything like what was said on the public airwaves.”
He told the Mayor that “a pattern has developed for quite some time that when you come under pressure to deliver for Limerick, you blame others. It’s now time that you step up and accept your responsibilities as Mayor of Limerick.”
“Moral has never been as low in this organisation since the mayoral election of 2024. We’ve seen management personnel leave. We’ve seen senior staff members leave this Council, and I’m also aware of staff members out on sick leave.”
Seconding Cllr Collins’s vote of confidence in Dr Daly, Fine Gael leader on the Council, John Sheahan, said he was left “flabbergasted” after the Mayor’s Live 95 interview, taking the view that the Council was working perfectly fine prior to the introduction of a DEM.
‘This is a sh*t-show’
Cllr Sheehan said that emails were exchanged between Council staff and union representaties, something that has “never” before “been done in light of a comment from somebody. I don’t ever remember anything like that in my 21 years on the Council.”
“We are seen to be a malfunctioning force presently, and the sooner we cop ourselves on and do our business right (the better). Excuse my language, but this is a sh*t-show.”
Council director general Dr Daly deemed the meeting either “the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning”, warning the Council was in real trouble if things didn’t change.
He told Council members it was sad that they were having this discussion at all, but thanked them for the vote of confidence.
Responding to the Mayor’s Live 95 interview last week, Dr Daly sent an internal email to Council staff last week assuring staff and elected members that he shared the sense of disappointment some held in Mayor Moran’s remands.
“While it is natural to feel disheartened, it’s important that we focus our energy on what we do best, that is, serving our community with professionalism, integrity, and pride,” he wrote at the time.
He wrote to Council staff that “many of you have taken on additional responsibilities, often at short notice, and have done so with great professionalism and a can-do attitude. Please know that your efforts are seen and deeply appreciated”, telling them that the Council remainds “committed to maintaining a positive, respectful, and productive working environment”.
‘Worried about the organisation”
Addressing the issue at Tuesday’s meeting, Dr Daly said it “pained me greatly” to send the email, adding: “It was not done lightly, I can tell you that, but I thought it was very important. I’m very worried about the organisation. I’m worried about the capacity we have to deliver, which the Mayor concentrates on, and that’s fine. Except the Mayor’s programme and scope of ambition is about the same size as the organisation. Delivery on service plans is €1.6billion over five years. So we have no extra resources.”
“I do appreciate that the Mayor is trying to get more resources. But I think when people elected the Mayor as a directly-elected mayor, they elected a unifying leader, someone who would speak on our behalf and be with us, and not a unilateral leader, which at times it has become.”
Dr Daly said the Council is “not a perfect organisation, but by Jesus it’s a good one, and I won’t have anything said about it in public. I will defend it at every cross and turn.”
As for Limerick City and County Council in its current guise, it was suggested by Council members that a ministerial intervention be called for, deeming the local authority “a real sh*t-show” much need of a “reset”.
After over 170-minutes of debate, confidence was still on the chamber floor as a lack of leadership and erosion in powers were highlighted alongside deterioration in service delivery.
External third-party advice and conciliation was suggested at several points during the heated assembly – described during the evening as “carnage” – to bring everyone back on the right track.
Mayor Moran told Council members he has full competence in Council staff delivering at full speed what they have delivered in the past year.
“I’ve heard it over and again since I started in this organisation that there are not the right resources to be able to deliver what the people of Limerick wanted, and what I think most of us want, which is a better Limerick,” the Mayor told the chamber.
“We have identified budgetary constraints that everybody’s under. We’ve identified staffing constraints that everybody’s under. But there is a sharp reality out there in the real world, and what another famous Limerick lad mentioned over the weekend, in terms of Ireland needing a reset in terms of the way we deliver across government.”
The Mayor said that “the reality, whether we like it or not, is that rents have gone up by 61 per cent in Limerick in the last number of years. I believe the staff of this organisation have done amazing work, just in case anyone wants to twist that, but I do not believe they are supported fully to do what they need to do. I have been elected to deliver a better Limerick. I have worked with Pat Daly and I will continue to work with Pat Daly.”