Group to drive €250m regeneration

A high-powered think tank made up of leading business and financial figures is being put together to drive the €250m Limerick 2030 plan drawn up to revive the city.

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.