State agencies ‘abandoned’ St Mary’s Park, says  former Limerick mayor

An outspoken former Limerick mayor claims the people of St Mary’s Park — named in a Pobal deprivation index as the most disadvantaged area of the country — were “abandoned” by state development agencies over decades.

Reacting to the index’s findings, showing St Mary’s Park has an unemployment rate at just under 70% for males, and at 40% for females, Cllr John Gilligan launched a stinging attack on IDA Ireland, as well as the former Shannon Development, which handed over its remit of developing the Limerick region, to the IDA, in 2014.

“Nobody, and I mean nobody — Shannon Development or the IDA — ever lifted their finger to try and replace [traditional industries] in the inner city for places like St Mary’s Park. They did absolutely nothing for them. The people of St Mary’s Park were simply left abandoned,” he said.