LOVE is in the air as we approach February 14.But as a little birdie suggested to me recently, the local media are often guilty of giving the impression that no one is making eyes at Limerick’s directly-elected Mayor John Moran.
As the Black Eyes Peas once asked, where is the love?
Our first citizen hasn’t had an easy run of it the past 18 months, but in the spirit of the weekend that’s in it, let’s spread a little of the love.
Truth be told, we’ve seen the naysayers in Merchant’s Quay sit in an ever decreasing circle. The large majority in the Council chamber just want to get on with the job at hand and work for the betterment of the city and county. That’s the reality.
Even the People’s Front of Adare/Rathkeale – Fine Gael councillors Stephen Keary and Adam Teskey – recently went as far as lambasting their own party colleagues for “acting like children”.
I certainly didn’t see that one coming, but if this pair – sometimes among Moran’s harshest critics in the chamber – can pass the peace pipe, surely there’s no excuse for anybody else.
From the outset, channelling his inner Kevin Sheahan (former Fianna Fáil councillor), Cllr Adam Teskey made it very clear that he believed Mayor Moran’s 150-page mayoral programme offered little to the people out the county.
“An awful lot of what’s in this is what’s already been worked upon. Unfortunately, this is nothing new for us,” Cllr Teskey hit out in October 2024 at the Mayor’s vision for change.
The very same day, Cllr Stephen Keary made it blatantly clear that the DEM had a lot of work to do if he was to get many on side.
“I do believe this is your own solo run, Mayor,” he told Moran at the time.
Yet here we are now, with a bit of platonic love in the air ahead of Valentine’s Day.
Mayor Moran has far more admirers within the ranks of the elected Council members than he has assailants. Seeing that he has the people of Limerick in his corner brought many councillors on side. If they could only soften coughs of the remaining hard core now, it would surely be wine and roses at City Hall for the rest of the term.
All you need is love, right?
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme