INDEPENDENT councillor Ursula Gavan told Limerick Council that she wants to see a green roof installed on all new and existing bus shelters in Limerick City.
A resubmitted motion, previously from Social Democrats councillors Elisa O’Donovan, the City East representative asked the Limerick Council executive if there was any way to move the proposal forward.
“Green roofs on bus shelters are implemented throughout Europe. It’s not a trend, it is just to make cities liveable. They provide shelter, they are cost effective, and they are a highly visible way for Limerick City to advance its climate, biodiversity, and public realm objectives by incorporating vegetation onto bus shelter rooftops,” Cllr Gavan said at February’s meeting of the Metropolitan District.
She took the view that this simple move could transform ordinary transport infrastructure into miniature green spaces that can contribute meaningfully to the city’s environmental resilience.
“In this way we can promote the role in the living environment of the city. Why can it be done everywhere else and not in Limerick?” she asked.
Cllr O’Donovan supported the motion after first raising it herself with the local authority in November 2024. She said that the response she got at the time from the National Transport Authority (NTA) suggested that they were investigating the potential for green roofs in urban environments.
In response, the Council’s Director of Transportation, Patricia Liddy, explained that the current suite of bus shelters, which are provided by the NTA, cannot incorporate a green roof.