Local councils fight over future seat of power

Two local authorities on the verge of amalgamation are in dispute over the planned location of the new seat of power.

Conn Murphy was yesterday unveiled as the manager of a new super-sized authority in Limerick covering a population of more than 184,000 people in the city and county.

No sooner had the appointment been announced than a row erupted over where Mr Murphy would be based — in the existing City Hall or the county council offices in the suburb of Dooradoyle.

The single local authority, with a reduced current number of elected members, takes effect from Sept 2014.

City councillors immediately demanded that the new manager should be based in the city centre.

However, county council members rejected City Hall as “totally unsuitable” due to the city courts being in the same complex.

The appointment of Mr Murray, who served as town clerk in the city 14 years ago, was yesterday given unanimous backing by Limerick City Council for the €153,000-a-year post.

Limerick County Council approved his appointment last Monday.

The new structure will come into force after the 2014 local elections.

It will replace the 28-member county council and the 17-member city body.

It is anticipated that the new council will have at least 30 members.

The county council currently operates from a modern €33m complex at Dooradoyle which opened in 2003.

The city authority is based at City Hall at Merchant’s Quay in a building opened in 1990 by then taoiseach Charles Haughey.

The council shares the building with the city court and is regularly featured in news bulletins when major criminals are on trial there.

Access for VIP visitors to City Hall is regularly through a rear entrance when the court is sitting.

City-based Cllr Pat Kennedy said: “The new headquarters must be located here, on the banks of the Shannon.”

Cllr Tom Short said City Hall was the logical location as it would sent out a message the city was the centre of the entire region.

However, county councillors insisted their spacious new building was the obvious choice.

Ex-county council chairman Cllr Richard Butler said: “For years, members of the city council have been giving out about the rough element who gather every day near the courthouse entrance at the city hall building.

“Visitors and the public have to walk a very intimidating gauntlet to get into city hall. The court facility is not going to be moved due to lack of money. So, are we to put up with same vista on the TV news of the entrance to the main administrative building in the Mid-West bristling with armed gardaí?

“How could you explain this kind of scenario, a regular one, to a visiting ambassador or a visiting industrialist. It’s a no-brainer — city hall would be the worst possible location from both an administrative and image point of view.”