RADICAL PROPOSALS to extend Limerick city’s boundary and replace Clare, Limerick and north Tipperary county councils with a unified regional authority have been made by An Taisce.
In a submission to the boundary committee appointed by Minister for the Environment John Gormley, the Limerick branch of An Taisce argues that replacing the three existing “hinterland local authorities” with a single authority would lead to cost savings.
“A unified hinterland authority combined with an expanded city would have the benefit of replacing four authorities with two and place the hinterland on a more equal footing with the city while also directing it towards the city that forms its core,” it says.
Adopting Limerick County Council’s proposal for a unified authority covering both the city and county would “weaken the focus of any new combined authority, given the different nature of the problems faced by an urban, suburban and rural populations”.
Instead, the submission proposes that the Limerick city boundary should be extended to encompass all of the contiguous suburban areas such as Castletroy and Dooradoyle (currently in Co Limerick) and Caherdavin and Parteen in Co Clare.
“We suggest that in addition to an enlarged city area, a new mid- west authority could be formed out of a merger of Clare-Limerick county and north Tipperary,” An Taisce says. “This would provide the significant savings called for in the McCarthy report.
“In making our submission, we believe that any extension or revisions to the boundary of the city and surrounding county-based local authorities should be done in such a way as not to require substantial revisiting for a generation,” it adds.
In its submission to the boundary committee, Clare County Council said there was “no justification whatsoever” for extending the Limerick city boundary into Co Clare, which it described as a “distinct geographic area” which attracted strong loyalty.
At a special meeting last week to adopt the 20-page submission, Independent councillor James Breen declared “not an inch”, while Fine Gael councillor Johnny Flynn said the people of Limerick city were voting with their feet by choosing not to live inside the city council area.
Mayor of Limerick Kevin Kiely (FG) said such comments were “atrocious and inexcusable”. He confirmed that the city council’s submission would be seeking to take over parts of Co Clare, including Parteen, Meelick and Shannon Banks.
Clare councillors claimed that Mr Gormley, who was educated at St Munchin’s College in Limerick, was biased in favour of the city – a charge the Minister rejected as “completely unfounded” on his first visit to Co Clare since the boundary committee was set up.
Mr Gormley said he would act on the committee’s recommendations. “I am going to listen to what the experts say and I hope that there will be proper consultation with people in the area.”
Today is the deadline for making submissions to the boundary committee, which is chaired by Denis Brosnan, who also heads the Mid-West Regional Task Force. Its terms of reference include whether to extend the city’s boundary into Clare and Limerick.
Fr Pat Hogan, parish priest of Southill, one of Limerick’s most deprived areas, said “moving lines on the map may not really solve our problems, especially from where I live and work”. He added that people living there felt “betrayed” by Limerick City Council.
“Limerick’s bad press has far more to do with management’s neglect of some of the city’s now infamous areas,” he said, “so hopefully in a new structure some new way of exercising authority can be found that is more accountable, more connected to all the citizens.”