Calls have been made for an urgent review of the law underpinning the office of Ireland’s only directly elected mayor in Limerick amid the row between the office holder, John Moran, and councillors.
Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan said there would be “serious reputational damage” to Limerick if the dispute continues.
Moran, a former Department of Finance secretary general turned independent politician, was elected mayor in 2024. He is the first holder of the office.
In an extraordinary post on his website, he questioned whether there was a strategy by some to make his role as Limerick’s mayor “unbearable” and “create sufficient pressure that I might simply walk away”.
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It came amid a row over Limerick City and County Council’s (LCCC)’s corporate plan, which was approved by councillors last week.
The plan was passed in Moran’s absence as he had to leave a long meeting before it ended for health reasons.
In his online post, Moran said a “minority” from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil – the largest parties in the council – “have consistently opposed” significant initiatives he has proposed. He also claimed there had been “repeated procedural obstacles placed in the way of my routine work”.
Speaking on Live 95 radio on Wednesday, O’Donovan – who is also a Fine Gael TD for Limerick – said if the row continues “it will do significant reputational damage to the city and the county, so the choices are: review the legislation [on the mayoral system in Limerick] or get on with it as it is. That decision is going to have to be made fairly quickly”.
On Wednesday, the Labour Party’s Conor Sheehan – also a Limerick TD – called on the Government to urgently bring forward a review of the legislation related to the office of directly elected mayor. He also called for the appointment of a mediator to resolve the stand-off.
Sheehan argued that there were “clear weaknesses and ambiguities in the legislation governing the directly elected mayor”.
He also said he supported the principle of a directly elected mayor and for the model to be rolled out elsewhere in Ireland, “but for it to succeed, the framework must be clear, robust and workable”.
During an interview on RTÉ Radio on Wednesday, Moran said “there is a need for a very quick review of the legislation”.
He argued that the mayoral role in Limerick was a “Catch 22 situation” as the public expected that the holder of the office would be “able to deliver what you actually promised to deliver”, but the mayor “does not have the right to allocate resources”, “assign tasks” or “assign budget across the year to what the mayor wants to do”.
Asked if there was a danger the situation might lead people to question whether there should be a directly elected mayor in Limerick, or any other city, Moran said, “Absolutely. And that has always been the risk.
“I think if we can get the delivery machine to work better and be allowed to do the things that mayors should be able to do, I think a lot more people across the country will want this.”
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He said he was still working with councillors from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. “This is not the siege of Limerick or something like that with the mayor holed up in his office.”
A statement from the Fine Gael group at LCCC said: “Recent debate around the Corporate Plan reflects the reality of a shared democratic system within Limerick City and County Council.”
It said the mayor and councillors have mandates from the people and that “robust discussion is part of responsible governance”.
“While we may not always agree on process or priorities, our collective focus must remain on delivering practical results for our communities,” it said. The Fine Gael councillors “remain committed to constructive engagement” with Moran and “all colleagues” to “ensure the new system works effectively for everyone”.
Fianna Fáil Minister of State Niall Collins – another Limerick TD – told RTÉ: “John Moran is hugely ambitious for Limerick and I fully support him in his endeavours and I know the Government supports him also.”
Collins added: “Regrettably there’s a small minority of some councillors in my own party and in the Fine Gael party who are seeking to disrupt his work.”
