John Moran, the directly elected Mayor of Limerick City and Council has accused Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members on the council of conspiring to undermine him.
Moran claims that some councillors from the two parties used his enforced absence for health reasons from part of a meeting last week to push through extensive amendments to the corporate plan drawn up by Moran. He claims it is part of “pattern of resistance” by a small minority of councillors within the two “ruling” parties.
It is a serious matter. Moran’s role encompasses many functions previously exercised by the chief executive of the council, including responsibility for strategic planning, housing, transport and the environment. He has a clear democratic mandate to drive policy in these areas.
Limerick was the only one of three cities to vote in favour of a directly elected mayor in 1999, with 52.4 per cent voting for the proposal. Moran won the first mayoral election, held in 2024, receiving 28,451 out of 81,668 votes cast by a potential electorate of 157,000. It was not a landslide by any means, but he was well ahead of the candidates fielded by the established parties.
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The other members of the council have their own mandates and are obliged to look out for the interest of their constituents. They would probably maintain that what transpired at the meeting in question is just part of the cut and thrust of electoral politics.
They may have a point. Moran is not an experienced politician. His career has been in law and finance. His only previous public role was as secretary general of the Department of Finance between 2012 and 2014, after the financial crash.
It is not a background that would necessarily equip one for the petty squabbling and stroke pulling that at times constitutes local politics.
But that is not the point. The people of Limerick voted for an alternative to the old system of local government, discredited in the eyes of many.
They wanted and expected something better, and the other elected representatives must respect this.
