THINGS started well at the Council’s third attempt at a mayoral fund briefing this past Thursday morning (October 6) with early signs indicating that the hatchet might finally be buried between councillors and Limerick’s first citizen.
This did not last long.
Independent councillor Elena Secas, who stepped away from the Labour Party after the previous adjourned meeting on the mayoral budget, was first to speak at County Hall. She deemed the behaviour of some of her colleagues at the previous meeting “unacceptable” and called for everyone to take a step back to reflect on how they conduct themselves.
“You called on the Mayor to change his leadership style, well, let me tell you something, we as councillors are all leaders, so if anyone needs to change their leadership style, we really need to look at ourselves as well. We have created in the chamber an atmosphere of blame and fear,” Cllr Secas told her Council colleagues.
“A councillor told me after the last meeting that they didn’t want to speak up because they were afraid that they would be abused from some sides of this chamber. This is a very sad reality.
“After the last meeting I thought I wouldn’t speak up myself again but then I thought what’s the point in me being a councillor if I can’t tell my viewpoint. This culture must change.”
Fine Gael councillor Liam Galvin said he was disappointed to hear Cllr Secas’s comments, deeming her words “another new low”.
“I would ask that Cllr Secas name the councillors that abused her and abused a colleague because I certainly don’t want to be associated with those comments,” Cllr Galvin said.
Príomh Chomhairleoir of Limerick City and County Council, Cllr Catherine Slattery (FF) pointed out that if any Council member feels intimidated, disrespected, or abused that there are procedures that can be followed to make a complaint.
Sinn Féin councillor Sharon Benson thanked Cllr Secas for speaking out and said that many members have expressed their frustration with Council Director General Dr Pat Daly about the way meetings are being carried out.
“I’m not talking about anyone in particular, I am talking about the general vibe at meetings. It’s a general pattern in this chamber. We do need to look at ourselves,” Cllr Benson insisted.
Dr Daly assured Council members that there are HR mechanisms within the organisation to deal with issues of bullying and threats, which are private and confidential.
Mayor John Moran thanked councillors for the sentiment but was keen to move on with his mayoral fund briefing, which had already been adjourned twice previously.
“I think we realise what’s ahead of us to be solved so I acknowledge what was said and I appreciate that,” he told the chamber.
“I think everybody knows about their behaviour in the last 15 months or whatever, and we will all reflect on it, and hopefully we will move forward,” the Mayor petitioned the room.
However, as he tried to explain the details of an email he had just sent to Council members in relation to an agreement being reached on an interim funding solution to keep Limerick’s community CCTV network operational for 2026, he was cut off mid sentence by Cllr Slattery.
From this point onwards, any chance of resolving differences and getting through the Mayor’s briefing seemed to become an impossibility and, ultimately, the meeting had to be adjourned yet again to another day.
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme