Limerick mayoral experiment will fail without legislative review

As Ireland's first directly elected mayor, John Moran has been given a mandate, but no way of delivering it 

Limerick mayor John Moran at the city's St Patrick's Day parade with grand marshal, marathon champion Ava Crean. Picture: Karlis Dzjamko

At present, in 30 of our 31 local authorities, mayors are elected by their fellow councillors to serve for a 12-month period. Mayoral elections are usually pre-determined based on the political power in council chambers, and it is not uncommon for pacts and voting arrangements to be in place. 

The alternative model of directly elected mayors is an appealing and popular one and is a traditional feature of local government in the US, Canada and Japan. In recent years, directly elected mayors have been introduced as a reform measure in England, Italy, Poland, Hungary and Germany. The core idea is that a mayor would be elected to lead their local authority, voted directly into power by citizens/residents, typically for a five-year term.