Mayor rejects Limerick parallel

The mayor of Limerick has rejected comments by a Galway city councillor, who claimed his city was "in danger of turning into Limerick" if crime continued to escalate.

Former mayor of Galway Cllr John Mullhollond made the remarks in a national newspaper, after one of his businesses was robbed for the twelfth time in two years.

The Galway city councillor, who runs a number of bookie shops in the city, said Galway was becoming a sort of 'Dodge City' and if it continued in the same vein then it was in danger of turning into Limerick.

“I understand Cllr Mulholland made his comments after armed robbers raided his business in Galway for the twelfth time in two years," said Mayor Scully.

"Obviously it was a stressful event and we should make allowances for that, but this sort of knee-jerk stereotyping of Limerick is neither acceptable nor remotely accurate. Cllr Mulholland should know that."

Limerick's mayor went on to describe Cllr Mullholland's remarks as "wishful thinking" and added that a number of positive things would happen to Galway should it "turn into Limerick".

"If Galway did turn into Limerick, several interesting things would happen. Crime would drop. Limerick’s crime rate is significantly lower than Galway’s and clear up rates are vastly superior.

"Growth would also pick up. Limerick is the fastest-growing major urban centre in Ireland, Galway is second fastest," said Mayor Scully.

Cllr Scully went on to say that Cllr Mullholland - who was mayor of Galway in 2000 - would enjoy doing business in Limerick, given the recent drop in commercial rates in the city.

"Cllr Mullholland would get a nice surprise from the local authority when he found that the commercial rates charged on his betting shops actually fell this year as they did in Limerick," he said.

"Perhaps even the rugby would improve if Galway turned into Limerick and Connacht might finally make it into the Heineken Cup!" he concluded.