Mayor John Moran admits latest plan to close access point to Limerick is 'not good value for money'

MAYOR John Moran has admitted that his plans to close a key access point into Limerick city centre this year did not represent "good value for money".

As revealed this Monday by Limerick Live, the directly elected first citizen scrapped plans to close the Crescent area at the top of O'Connell Street next month.

The closure was to take place as part of Limerick's August Animations festival, aimed at transforming urban spaces into hubs for culture and community activity.

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The closure at the Crescent was set to be a repeat of an initiative he led 12 months ago, which saw the area around the Daniel O'Connell Monument closed to all-bar emergency traffic. Back then, many city traders criticised the plan, claiming it led to a noticeable drop in footfall and sales during the summer period.

When he initially announced the closure last month, Mayor Moran said: "Let’s turn a quiet month into something fun and vibrant. It doesn’t need to be complicated, grab a chair, enjoy a book or a takeaway outdoors, maybe even under the watchful eye of Daniel O’Connell. If we make this work, next year will be even more ambitious. Limerick has a Different Kind of Energy—let’s show the world what that really means.”

While council has confirmed there will be other activities in August, Mayor Moran confirmed his flagship proposal at the Crescent was off the table, describing the move as "a tactical retreat".

"I know some people felt discommoded by removing traffic from one or two blocks in our city centre over the holiday period last year. However, on the other hand, we saw countless examples and images of a new-found joy on our streets and that was inspiring to all involved.  It was those images of Limerick which travelled across the country and beyond. All over the world, studies record how over and over again when we open up our public spaces, people respond positively. Limerick is no exception," Mayor Moran wrote in a statement.

However, he added earlier this month: "it became clear to me that delivering the programme I hoped to deliver this year, even with the much-increased budget, on a value-for-money basis compared to last year, was not feasible."

"I could not convince myself that paying for what was then planned for this year, especially with the costs of increased manning of road closures was good value for money. In this context, I believed the more responsible choice, and one I was not afraid to make, was to step back and reassess how we might deliver differently and better in future years," he added.

The directly elected mayor said he did not feel it right, with August just days away, to redesign something "scaled-back", which "might not deliver on expectations, but would also involve inconveniences and high costs of the extra road closures across Georgian Limerick and Irishtown. "

"I realise though that a number of local acts and animations were already lined up and counting on this income. I have therefore agreed to reallocate the same budget as we allocated last year directly to our Festivals and Events team who will use this funding to supplement their other programming for other parts of the city centre this August. I will keep the additional unused funding for other city centre animations in the future," he added.

Mayor Moran acknowledged some may be disappointed by the news, particularly those who might be able to travel away from Limerick for the holidays.

"But make no mistake, like many others, I remain committed to the broader vision of a more animated, welcoming city centre. As our Public Realm and Transport Strategies near completion and the greening of Georgian Limerick planned in the Mayoral Programme is advanced, we will soon have clearer frameworks to support future events and street activations. 

"These will guide more ambitious proposals for summer 2026 and beyond. This is a mere tactical retreat from our ultimate ambition of making Limerick a better place. It is a pause to ensure we build something stronger. It will also allow us to continue the conversations that last summer’s pilot began as they allowed many of us to dream of a very different Limerick with a city centre we can all be proud of," he concluded.