Group to drive €250m regeneration

The plan, launched on June 14, has the potential to deliver 5,000 jobs and its main objective is the delivery of an entirely new city centre as a hub for huge commercial investment.
The Irish Examiner has learned that management at City Hall is now putting together a key strategic group to drive and progress the plan.
Those invited to join the group include horseracing figure JP McManus; former Kerry Group chief Denis Brosnan; John Hurley, head of Google Ireland; John Moran, secretary general of the Department of Finance; Paul Rellis of Microsoft; Loretta Glucksman, a US philantropist who has donated huge sums to the University of Limerick, and a number of other major business figures.
A mission statement for the think tank will be drawn up in the coming months and it is planned that it will work in close co-operation with the new 40-member Limerick Council, which willreplace Limerick City and County Council following next summer’s local elections.
The plan envisages a renaissance of Limerick’s entire waterfront; the transformation of city centre streets; the creation of a city square/plaza; creation of a city centre higher education campus; the restoration of the Georgian Quarter, and a new public transport system.