Rural Limerick at the heart of John Moran’s victorious mayoral election

JOHN Moran’s journey to become the first-ever directly elected mayor of the city and county is rooted in rural Limerick.

It all started at The Seven Sisters pub in Kildimo and a meeting to see what people thought of the idea of seeking the historic office - and coming up with a strategy to achieve it.

“He was very keen to make clear to people in both the city and countryside that this post would be for the benefit of all of Limerick,” said one of his key supporters.

Other candidates in this mayoral contest have been criticised for perhaps not spending enough time campaigning in rural Limerick, leaving many of its electorate feeling disenfranchised.

Indeed, one candidate, Labour councillor Conor Sheehan, admitted he was so concerned at holding his local authority seat on the city’s northside that he spent 99% of his time campaigning there.

But Mr Moran put huge importance on the rural vote.

He was keen to get across his deep ties to the county. He lived on a farm between Mungret and Patrickswell. His relatives are the Morans from Athea.

These of course are the same family who run The Red Cow Hotel in Dublin, and its current manager, Tommy Moran, son of the late Tom, posted a video message in support ahead of polling day.

Mr Moran’s campaign website is littered with references to the county.

“The experiences of working alongside my dad on building sites and mum and dad on the farm and time spent on my uncle's farm in Athea, have left an indelible mark. It’s my backbone, the core of who I am,” is just one of those references.

His official campaign launch took place at the Longcourt House Hotel, formerly the Courtney Lodge, in Newcastle West.
Unlike a lot of other candidates, he held a lot of meetings across the county subsequently.

His posters stood out from the rest - More for Limerick was an easy to remember catchphrase.

Mr Moran’s campaign team waited a while before erecting posters in places where others had not identified.

READ MORE: IN PICTURES: Celebrations following historic election of John Moran as Mayor of Limerick

His loyal campaign team - many at the count centre wearing John Moran T-shirts - were not drawn from political circles, and were able to bring perhaps more diverse experiences.

“All of them bought into his vision and campaigned with him. These are people who largely had not campaigned before,” said one of his supporters.

He was spotted at one stage in the campaign dining in the Hamlet Bar in Grange, at a crossroads in the heart of rural Limerick.

But it wasn't all a rural affair - boxes show he polled well in areas like Southill and Moyross.

This came in spite of attempts by some of his opponents to portray him as an out-of-touch businessman, and quick to highlight his role in welcoming the vulture funds to Ireland in his time in the Department of Finance.

He was written off quite early on. One rival candidate told the Leader they felt he had “peaked” after the first RTE debate in which he declared his aim of solving Limerick’s housing crisis in five years.

The narrative put out that he was ‘transfer toxic’ was also proven to be wrong.

Unlike the other candidates in the race to be mayor, he produced a 100-page strategy document which sets out the key priorities of his time in office.

People bought into the plan. I imagine he will spend the next couple of weeks getting the fine details. Mr Moran has made history by becoming the first directly elected mayor of Limerick.

The hardest part of the job is yet to come.