Minister supports Limerick mayor over 'obstruction' from councillors

Fianna Fáil minister of state Niall Collins pointed out that 'all meetings' of the local council should be made available to the public

Niall Collins: 'Democracy should take place in public, in full view, in the full glare of the public to allow for proper transparency.' File picture: Damien Storan

Fianna Fáil minister of state Niall Collins has expressed support for the Limerick mayor, even if “some councillors” from his own party are “seeking to disrupt” his term.

Mr Collins said John Moran had published a “very ambitious and detailed” mayoral plan that he is seeking to implement “over the lifetime of the council”.

“Unfortunately, every meeting seems to be a crisis or a battle for him to try and deliver on this programme for Limerick.

“The public are growing weary of it and are of the view that he was elected on a platform and he received his mandate. The obstruction at almost every meeting is really damaging and it's counterproductive,” said Mr Collins.

In a statement earlier this week, Mr Moran said he felt some councillors were trying to undermine his mayoral term by being “hostile”. He called for council meetings to be recorded and made available to the public to help "establish faith back again in the system". 

Mr Collins said the Government was supportive of Mr Moran, the first directly elected mayor in the country. Mr Moran faced criticism from minister Patrick O’Donovan, who said on local radio that the council row was “causing significant reputational damage” to Limerick.

Mr Collins pointed out that “all meetings” of the local council should be made available to the public.

“Democracy should take place in public, in full view, in the full glare of the public to allow for proper transparency. That’s something the mayor wants to do and I don't understand the reluctance of some members of the council to agree to that,” he said.

Mr Collins suggested the proposal is not recent, as he had put forward the idea of local radio doing a live broadcast of the meetings over 20 years ago. He added that it was “shot down back then”.

“The world has moved on and really it's inward looking and backwards to think that meetings of the Limerick local authority can't be made readily available for the public to tune into,” he said.

Government officials have called for the issue to be resolved, while Labour TD for Limerick, Conor Sheehan, said a mediator must be appointed to resolve the “mayoral stasis”. Mr Sheehan said pretending the situation is working in Limerick is “simply not credible”.

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

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"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 said the lack of clarity has “now led to paralysis”.

On Wednesday, Mr Moran said he was “advised to walk away” following tensions inside the council, but had no plans to leave his role. When asked about Mr O'Donovan’s comments, Mr Moran said they were an “effort at deflection” in a week where the Government announced “millions more” in funding for Limerick.

“In my experience, the people with the least to lose about having debates in public are those with nothing to hide from public scrutiny of the choices that they have been making or their behaviour,” Mr Moran told the Irish Examiner.

The funding referred to is in regards to €130m allocated for Limerick roads, as well as  €5.7m for legacy projects in Adare ahead of the Ryder Cup in 2027. Mr O’Donovan was contacted for comment.