Limerick mayor: I may have been ahead of councillors' thinking

Limerick mayor John Moran tells Mick Clifford Podcast: 'I may have been ahead of the thought process of the councillors'

Thu, 13 Aug, 2026 - 21:05

Mick Clifford

The mayor of Limerick, John Moran, believes that his well-publicised clashes with some councillors may be down to the fact he has spent a lot longer than them thinking about what needs to be done to improve the city and county.

Tensions between Mr Moran and a select group of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors have arisen and flared into conflict on a few occasions since Mr Moran took over his role as the first directly-elected mayor in the State in 2024.

Last February, he wrote to Micheál Martin and Simon Harris to complain about councillors who had proceeded with a lengthy meeting to pass the council’s corporate plan even though he had to leave early for health reasons.

Mr Moran told The Mick Clifford Podcast that, when he started the job, he knew he had to pick up the pace on delivery. He said:

I probably had a disadvantage in an ironic way in that I had years of thinking about what should [be done] and in that way I may have been ahead of the thought process of the councillors.

Mr Moran added that there is still a problem with communication between him and the elected members but also with the public in terms of what he is trying to achieve.

More recently, a number of councillors attempted to block the mayor’s plan for road closures to accommodate the Summer In The City Festival.

Mr Moran told the podcast the festival was welcomed by most people and that the councillors who were objecting were from wards outside those which affected the road closures.

Limerick mayor John Moran discusses clashes, change, and his vision for Limerick City on The Mick Clifford Podcast. See link below. File picture

He said that the public perception that there is a split involving the mayor on one side and councillors on the other is not accurate.

“Most of the councillors are working very well with the mayor and some are not and they will say that themselves,” said Mr Moran.

“But those who are, I believe, are realising that fundamentally you have to have people working [together] to deliver for the people.”

The new form of government involving a directly-elected mayor means there has to be a new way of working, he says.

“When you talk to local government representatives in other parts of the world, you tend to find that the ones that work incredibly well always put place before politics.”