Stephen Keary reflects on his year as Mayor of Limerick which has ‘flown by’

OUTGOING Mayor Stephen Keary wants the two-mayor set-up in Limerick changed and has, describing it as a “glitch” from the merger of City Council and County Council.

“It’s confusing. The office of full mayor doesn’t deserve to be confused or diluted. There were events where the mayor of the City and County should have been invited to, and inadvertently, it was the metropolitan mayor who was invited,” he said.

But, he is confident the situation will be solved in the new council term, which kicks off after next May’s election. Cllr Keary has confirmed he will run again.

And asked what advice he would afford his successor, likely to be Cllr James Collins, he said, simply: “Make the most of it, enjoy it. It’s a fantastic honour to be bestowed on you by any group of people.”

He says his year in office has “flown”, a period of time in which he’s represented the city with pride in Finland, New York, London and further afield.

The Fine Gael man created two pieces of local history last summer when he became the first citizen of Limerick City and County.

He became the first Croagh resident to hold this high office.

Despite living in the village since 1990, Mayor Keary still often feels an outsider in Limerick – but he actually believes this is to his advantage.

“I can view things without jaundice in the eye. I can look at things in a different light, and I’d never have an agenda,” he explains, “I said it at the outset, I would be a mayor for all the people of Limerick.”

He also feels he has put his own small community on the map, with signs proclaiming ‘Welcome to Croagh, home of the Mayor of Limerick’.

While happily, the mayor sees his year in office as largely positive, one tragic event casts a shadow over his term – the untimely death of Ballybricken’s Dolores O’Riordan.

Mayor Keary attended the funeral of the singer, and also met her family, being struck by their strength in the face of such pain.

“They behaved with so much class in the face of such a bereavement, and with real dignity. But I felt Limerick people showed them an awful lot of respect.

“They were told the space in the church was limited. People respected that, and didn’t turn up, despite their feelings,” the mayor added.

The strength of feeling following Dolores’s passing was reflected when Mayor Keary presented her mother Eileen with a book of condolence, with 215,000 signatures.

“It was the biggest volume ever presented by this authority, or probably any authority,” he notes.

This Thursday night, Mayor Keary will formally afford the Freedom of Limerick posthumously to former detective garda Jerry McCabe, and his partner Ben O’Sullivan at what is likely to be an emotional occasion in city hall.

It’s something he wanted to do all year. Living in nearby Croagh, he remembers the tragic day in 1996 when IRA members shot the detective during an attempted robbery of a post office van.

The mayor was also on hand in November and January for two loan-signing ceremonies, which will chart a brighter future for the city centre: capital from the European Investment Bank and the Council of Europe Bank will help get the €180m Project Opera scheme off the ground.

It was a family affair for the mayor on St Patrick’s Day, as he had the honour of marching in the world-famous New York City parade.

What made it even more special was the fact his two grandchildren John O’Donovan and Conor O’Callaghan marched with him.

He said: “Outside of St Patrick’s cathedral, they were able to join me for a 50m walk of the route. They are just over three-years-old.

The month before this, Mayor Keary was in London, where he watched Limerick’s footballers draw with the Exiles in the league.

There, he met members of the Limerick Association in London at a special reception, and this represented another highlight for the first citizen.

One thing Cllr Keary hopes is kicked into touch is the two-mayor set-up Limerick has, describing it as a “glitch” from the merger of City Council and County Council.

“It’s confusing. The office of full mayor doesn’t deserve to be confused or diluted. There were events where the mayor of the City and County should have been invited to, and inadvertently, it was the metropolitan mayor who was invited,” he said.

But, he is confident the situation will be solved in the new council term, which kicks off after next May’s election (Cllr Keary has confirmed he will run again).

And asked what advice he would afford his successor, likely to be Cllr James Collins, he said, simply: “Make the most of it, enjoy it. It’s a fantastic honour to be bestowed on you by any group of people.”