'The hard work starts now:' John Moran on being elected mayor and the future for Limerick

surrounded by his family and friends including his mother Bridie and his partner Damien, John Moran said the people of Limerick had voted for 'change' in how local government is run in order 'to re-establish democracy'. Picture: Brendan Gleeson

Former Wall Street lawyer and investment banker John Moran made history by becoming the first-ever directly-elected mayor of Limerick City and County.

Moran, who helped steer Ireland out of recession after the 2009 financial crash in his role as secretary general at the Department of Finance, received 18,308 first preference votes.

Born in the UK into west Limerick roots before returning to grow up on the family farm in Mungret/Patrickswell, Moran, who ran as an Independent candidate, had led the mayoral race from the off when tallies were sounded on Saturday until his declaration as mayor on 28,451 votes Tuesday.

His nearest challengers, Helen O’Donnell Independent and Dee Ryan Fianna Fáil, could not bridge the gap, with O’Donnell finishing 4,712 votes behind Moran in second place, after Ryan was eliminated on the 11th count with a total of 18,875 votes.

Afterwards, surrounded by his family and friends including his mother Bridie and his partner Damien, John Moran said the people of Limerick had voted for “change” in how local government is run in order “to re-establish democracy”. He said he hoped it would trigger other counties to follow Limerick’s lead. 

Fair play to Limerick, they came out in numbers to actually vote for this role five years ago and they came out again (now) to show it.

People voted on the “policies” and “credentials” of the 15 candidates and not “party lines”, he said, “and I think that says a lot — not just for the future of Limerick but frankly for the future of democracy”.

Mr Moran invited the other candidates to join him in implementing a plan that would “move Limerick forward in the next five years”.

His “three-point-plan” for Limerick, he said, was “more housing, more business, prosperity and more health services”.

Mr Moran will take home an annual salary of €160,000 a year and will manage a €40m council budget.

“The hard work starts now, we’ll have to start figuring out budgets, figuring out all the money, there’s a lot of people asking for lots of things,” he said.

I think it’s going to be an amazing journey for everybody in Limerick and I’m so happy that you guys have chosen me and trusted me to do this, so thank you very much.

An emotional Dee Ryan fought back tears and said she was “very proud” of her third place performance.

The former chief executive of the Limerick Chamber business group said Fianna Fáil had encouraged her to consider entering politics full-time.

Sources close to Ms Ryan said she was now seriously considering seeking a nomination from the party to run in the next general election.

Ms Ryan told reporters it was “not the day to answer that question” but she said she “loved” canvasing for mayoral votes and the excitement of the count.

“I loved it, absolutely loved it, I really enjoyed it, I am getting a lot of encouragement from my Fianna Fáil party members (to go further) but I am not thinking about that today,” Ms Ryan said.

“Today is about the mayor, and I wish the mayor the absolute best, they have my support,” she added.

Two of Limerick’s sitting TDs, Maurice Quinlivan Sinn Féin, and Brian Leddin Green Party, who were also in the race to be mayor, failed to garner enough votes to threaten his runaway lead.