New candidate in directly elected mayor election

THERE’S a new candidate in the upcoming election for the role of directly elected mayor.

Ruairi Fahy, who lives in the city centre, becomes only the second candidate in the race to become the first holder of the prestigious role.

He will represent People Before Profit (PBP), with his campaign launching at the Absolute Hotel in the city centre on Monday.

Mr Fahy will also be contesting City North for the same party.

He said: “The directly elected mayor was supposed to give more power to the people of Limerick to control our future, to undo the damage done by being the dumping ground for dirty industries and an afterthought in a development policy that only focuses on the expansion of Dublin.”

He says that in reality all the legislation has amounted to is “shuffling the deck of existing powers and hiding the unelected executive further from accountability.”

Mr Fahy said despite his reservations about the job, he is putting his name forward because whoever is elected will have the “biggest mandate in the country for building new systems of local democracy.”

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The voters will be drawn from a population of almost 195,000, according to census figures.

There has only been one formal declaration in the election for directly elected mayor to date, with the vote expected on Friday, June 7 next.

That is Green Party TD Brian Leddin, although businesswoman Helen O’Donnell and former finance chief John Moran have indicated they may be interested.

Mr Fahy launched his campaign on Monday, alongside former councillor Cian Prendiville, who is running in the European election for PBP.