Same city, worlds apart

The local elections will not bring real change in Limerick, writes Political Reporter Mary Dundon.

MICHAEL RYAN and Maurice Quinlivan live within a mile of each other on Limerick's northside but they might as well come from different planets.

Fianna Fáil Cllr Michael Ryan lives on the affluent North Circular Road where the only real issues bothering the local residents are the new road ramps and heavy traffic.

But over in Ballynanty, one of Limerick's oldest working class areas, Sinn Féin candidate Maurice Quinlivan said the main concerns are jobs and anti-social behaviour.

Two very different worlds that rarely collide and two candidates who highlight the tales of two utterly different cities that make up Limerick.

Cllr Ryan inherited his seat from Peter Power TD over a year ago following the ending of the dual mandate. But the world he inhabits on the North Circular Road is only half the tale of Limerick's Ward One. Here, a good education is also top priority.

"Young people are finding it so hard to buy houses now and the best thing we can give them going out into the world is a good education," Cllr Ryan said.

But the North Circular Road has massive over representation on Limerick City Council with four of Ward One councillors living there while the neighbouring large working class estates of Moyross and Ballynanty have no voice on the council.

Cllr Ryan is on the Moyross Community Council and said he did canvass 76 houses in area. "But I found there were no real issues and I got the impression that many of the people would not vote," he said.

But Sinn Féin candidate Maurice Quinlivan whose home in Ballynanty is beside Moyross found a different world when he canvassed over 600 houses in the disadvantaged estate.

"The people there are very worried about jobs and if they will be able to keep their places on the community employment schemes," he said.

And they are also very worried about the growing anti-social behaviour among problem tenants.

But while the Moyross people have done a great job in helping themselves and building a great community centre, there is a serious detachment from the city council.

"There is a huge apathy about politicians and a recent local survey found that most people believed the council did not care about them," Mr Quinlivan said.

He believes the only way to empower the Moyross people again is to have a local councillor who will represent their needs and consult with them regularly.

This is the Sinn Féin candidate's first time running for election. He is the brother of IRA man, Nessan Quinlivan, one of the first prisoners released following the IRA ceasefire 10 years ago.

But Maurice Quinlivan says he has never been involved with the IRA. He is running for Sinn Féin because he believes they can give people a better say on local councils.

Limerick's Ward One is really a microcosm of a problem that is city-wide because only three of the 17 city councillors live in the large working class areas that have been plagued with crime and gang warfare.

Independent Cllr John Gilligan who lives in one of the disadvantaged areas, St Mary's parish, believes the only way to solve Limerick's huge social and crime problems is have more councillors from working class areas.

"I find it amazing and very disappointing that there is not one candidate running in the two of biggest disadvantaged estates in Limerick Southill and Moyross while we have four sitting councillors living in the affluent North Circular Road," Cllr Gilligan said.

While he stresses that he represents people in all of Ward Two in Kings Island, Corbally and Garryowen, Cllr Gilligan says he also ends up representing the people of Moyross and Southill when they have a problem.

But the chances of breaking the huge imbalance seems highly unlikely in this election.

Fianna Fáil could lose a seat to Fine Gael in Corbally and Labour is in with a chance of winning back the old "Jim Kemmy" seat.

There is unlikely to be any change in party representation in Ward One where the breakdown is: two Fianna Fáil; one Fine Gael; one Labour and one Independent. Although there could be a change of personnel in Fianna Fáil with challenger Joe Collopy said to be doing well on the canvas.

In Ward Two, Fine Gael challenger Catherine O'Farrell could take a seat from Fianna Fáil's Larry Cross.

In Ward Three, Labour are going all out to win the Southhill seat they lost last time to Ind Michael Kelly, the reformed prisoner who is still recovering in hospital from gun shot wounds.

This is the seat that Labour candidates Derek Mulcahy and James Houlihan are targeting.

And in Ward Four there is unlikely to be any change, although PD candidate, Isabel Geoghegan, sister-in-law of Mary Harney, is doing well on the canvass, threatening Limerick Mayor FF Dick Sadlier the most.

With 47 candidates chasing 17 seats it remains to be seen if there will be any real change.