THE most shocking revelation in a national media report making claims of a physical altercation between Mayor John Moran and Limerick Council Director General Dr Pat Daly was not the alleged argy-bargy itself, but the high level of turmoil it emphasised within the local authority, writes Limerick Post reporter Alan Jacques.
Former Limerick Leader and Sunday Independent editor Alan English’s warts-and-all three-piece feature in The Currency last week painted a rather bleak picture of Limerick City and County Council, almost two years on since a directly-elected mayor took office.
Outside of Mayor Moran’s shocking claim that he was “physically manhandled” by Dr Daly following a controversial interview last October, much of the report was of no surprise to those following the story week in, week out on Shannonside.
One thing is true, things have continually gone from bad to worse at Merchants Quay since June 2024, and the Director General’s recent plea for the “status quo” to be maintained until the Council leaders can iron out their differences feels now off the table.
In a statement to RTÉ’s Prime Time last week, the Council said that it is capable of navigating the current challenges while continuing to deliver the best possible outcomes for the people of Limerick.
“Limerick City and County Council is no stranger to transformational change. In fact, as far back as 2014, Limerick became one of the first local authorities in the state to successfully amalgamate a city and county administration, a process widely recognised as one of the most complex organisational transitions ever undertaken in Irish local government that experience, has forged a workforce and management structure fully capable of navigating major change with professionalism, resilience and ambition,” the Council stated.
And while Dr Daly told the national press the alleged altercation last November was a “fairly robust exchange”, and the Mayor maintains he was “physically manhandled”, none of this, whatever the truth is, bodes well in terms of “navigating current challenges”.
Reaction from the representatives
The Limerick Post this week spoke to local politicians to get their take on the very public row between the Council executive’s two top lieutenants.
Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan said his party would continue to hold the Mayor and the Council to account, but warned that the current approach makes meaningful assessment of the Mayor’s role impossible.
“The directly-elected mayor model was designed to work through partnership between the Mayor and the councillors. It cannot succeed if debate is curtailed and decisions are rushed through without proper scrutiny or where procedural shenanigans are put above the welfare of Limerick city and county. It cannot succeed if the Mayor is blocked at every turn in trying to fulfil his mandate,” Deputy Quinlivan said.
“We anticipated problems, given the significant grey areas in the legislation around the roles of Mayor and Director General, but it is unfortunately becoming clear that members of the FF/FG club are deliberately trying to undermine the Mayor’s role,” he alleged.
Council Príomh Chomhairleoir, Cllr Catherine Slattery (FF), said she read the three parts of The Currency report and thought it was good that people were given the option to speak out. Cllr Slattery also said that she has the utmost respect for Dr Daly, describing him as “the example of a benevolent leader”.
“I entered politics to help people and my city, not to be brought down by anyone or made to feel inferior to anyone and unfortunately this is what has happened since I was elected to the role of Príomh Chomhairleoir,” she insisted.
Labour Party councillor Joe Leddin said he believes that the establishment of the office of Mayor has offered incredible potential for Limerick that is the “envy” of other cities.
“We are well able to adapt to change as we did when the two former councils merged in 2014,” Cllr Leddin tells me.
“I am on record as saying the Mayor is ‘losing the room’ with a failure to listen more, engage more, delegate more, trust more, and inspire the very best of our people to deliver for Limerick. Ignore the small few detractors that if the Lord God Almighty was mayor, they would not be happy and reach out to those who want to see our city and county realise its full potential.”
Social Democrats councillor Shane Hickey-O’Mara hopes the recent spotlight on the issues within the organisation will lead to “bridges being built between those at the centre of this unpleasantness”.
“We have so much work to do and infighting does nothing to build trust in the political system amongst the electorate,” he said.
‘This is yesterday’s news’
Labour Party TD Conor Sheehan said he supports the concept of a directly-elected mayor but believes there are several flaws in the legislation that need to be addressed. He welcomed remarks from Government that a legislative review will begin before the end of the year.
“The review must be comprehensive and must address the issues with the legislation. There are obviously going to be teething issues with any reform of local government, and I believe that the review must not absolve the Department of Housing of their responsibilities in relation to this,” Deputy Sheehan opined.
Limerick Fianna Fáil TD and Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Niall Collins, takes the view that Mayor Moran has a mandate from the people of Limerick.
“His vision and ambition for Limerick is both impressive and achievable. I support him fully in this agenda. There’s an onus all, public servants and councillors, Government and other public representatives, to work together for Limerick. It’s not about the personalities, which is a side show. It’s about Limerick and the people of Limerick, which is the only show that matters. Time to be getting on with it,” Minister Collins insisted.
Independent councillor Ursula Gavan took a similar view, saying that “this is yesterday’s news and well past time to move on”.
“We need everyone to work collectively for the betterment of Limerick. It’s not just up to the Mayor and the Director General and the leadership team but all 41 councillors to come together to serve Limerick city and county.”
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme