John Moran says he was advised to ‘walk away’ as Limerick mayoral tensions deepen

Labour TD seeks urgent legislative review as John Moran reveals he was urged to step aside amid council tensions

Limerick mayor John Moran accused some councillors of plotting to ensure his term was not successful. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

The Government must appoint a mediator to resolve the “mayoral stasis” in Limerick, a local TD has claimed, after John Moran hit out at some local councillors for being “hostile” towards him.

Limerick Labour TD and spokesperson on local government Conor Sheehan called on the Government to urgently bring forward a legislative review of the directly elected mayor of Limerick and to appoint an independent mediator to resolve the ongoing standoff at City Hall.

Mr Sheehan said pretending the current situation was working in Limerick was “simply not credible”.

“At the heart of this dysfunction are clear weaknesses and ambiguities in the legislation governing the directly elected mayor," he said. 

"These flaws were repeatedly flagged by Opposition TDs, but the final legislation was watered down, leaving uncertainty over where executive authority lies and who is ultimately responsible for key governance decisions within the council."

Mr Sheehan added the lack of clarity had “now led to paralysis”.

“I support the principle of a directly elected executive mayor, and this model should be rolled out elsewhere in Ireland. But for it to succeed, the framework must be clear, robust and workable.

“Limerick is currently lagging badly on delivery, with just 34% of its overall housing targets met and only 70% of its social housing targets delivered. 

"These are the real issues facing people. Oireachtas members, councillors, the mayor and the council executive must be focused on working together to deliver homes, not stuck in a governance stand-off.” 

This comes as John Moran released a statement on his personal website on Monday, sharing details of what happened at a seven-hour-long meeting last week, during which he took ill.

Despite his absence, the corporate plan was passed — even though some councillors suggested the meeting should resume once the mayor had a chance to view the plan.

Mr Moran alleged some local councillors were trying to undermine his mayoral term by being “hostile” towards him, accusing them of plotting to ensure his term was not successful.

On Wednesday, he said he was “advised to walk away” from his mayoral role, following tensions inside the council.

“ I actually was advised to walk away by a couple of people. I'm too stubborn, I suppose, in one way, and I'm too passionate about one Limerick and about this reform.

“I mean, if I walk away, I guess you can read between the lines. Some people are coming out with statements saying we should have a review, and if it's not working, we should get rid of it, essentially. I think that has been the risk all the time in his project,” he told RTÉ earlier today.

Mr Moran agreed the whole affair might lead people to question whether or not there should be a directly elected mayor in Limerick.

“That has always been the risk, right? That's why I've been trying to solve a lot of these issues privately and quietly in the past, and it's not working right. So now I think we need to have that debate,” he said.

He went on to say what upset him last Tuesday was to have a “forced conversation about the direction of travel and the distribution of power” between the council, the mayor, the director general and the Príomh Chomhairleoir.

“We were having disagreements about that, and I think it properly got too much, the whole thing,” he said.

“I asked for a deferral of the meeting and it didn't happen. The document was pushed through, and that annoyed a lot of councillors as well as myself and others.”