Minister must ‘fill in the blanks’ on Limerick’s directly elected mayor proposal

AS further details emerge of the proposed executive mayor for Limerick, calls have been made on the minister responsible to “fill in the blanks.”

The call to John-Paul Phelan, from Mayor James Collins, comes as Limerick, along with Cork and Waterford, prepare to go to the polls in May to be asked if they want to see a directly elected mayor.

If approved, the job could come with a basic salary of around €94,535, alongside a top-up of €35,319, meaning any mayor would get close to €130,000 a year.

However, Minister of State and Limerick TD Patrick O’Donovan admitted this week that the plebiscite is only advisory and the government will take time to “reflect” on the results, before making its next move.

If approved though, Limerick could see its first executive mayor by 2021.

They would serve a two-and-a-half year term, with the first five year term kicking in from 2024, when the local elections after next are due to take place.

The powers of these mayors will involve a “significant transfer of powers” to the elected mayor from the council executive, although individual decisions on planning will remain vested in the executive.

Reports this week have suggested this has caused discomfort among Cabinet ministers, and Cllr Daniel Butler, who holds the role of the metropolitan mayor said: “In terms of a political role, it has the possibility of someone having absolute power, and nearly something which borders on a dictatorship. Like any political role, the key is how do we hold these individuals to account?”

“A lot of thought needs to go into this. On the face of it, it sounds great, but when you start digging a bit deeper, there is cause for concern both for me and I’m sure an awful lot of other people,” Cllr Butler said, admitting some “unease”.

But Mr O’Donovan is in favour of the plans, saying it would lead to a “democratising of the whole local authority structure to a stage where it hasn’t really been before.”

He noted it will be interesting to see who political parties would put forward for any election, pointing out they will need to have an appeal to voters in both Limerick city and county. And he rejected fears that any first citizen may potentially wield too much power.

“You can never have a situation where a person is elected is regarded as being less or more powerful. The ultimate in terms of accountability is the ballot box. It’s not something management should fear. They are answerable anyway to the locally elected members. It’s just another level of accountability, and a greater level of transparency,” he told the Limerick Leader, “At the moment, we have local administration with accountability as opposed to local government with accountability.”

More questions than answers remain, according to Mayor Collins.

He said: “The information we are getting is changing every week and we are reading about it in the media. We really need the minister to come out. The plebiscite is eight weeks away on a pretty big decision. We are asking people do they want to change how local government functions. And realistically, the minister is asking the public to vote on something he hasn’t given us the details on.”

Mayor Collins also expressed concerns over where it would leave Limerick’s relationship with neighbouring local authorities, which may not have a directly elected first citizen.

Dr Edward Walsh, the founding president of the University of Limerick, said he is concerned about a big transfer of powers away from the executive.

“The dominant people in the city must be the executive who have the professional expertise. If that imbalance is incorrect, the city is unlikely to be run correctly,” he said.

He said if the Limerick public does decide it wants a directly elected mayor, the government must “scan arrangements in some of the best run cities internationally where mayors are elected – and plagiarise them!”

London is the nearest city which enjoys a directly elected mayor, but Dr Walsh believes that this is not a good comparator, and we should look further afield, perhaps to Scandinavian cities for example.

One man who is totally opposed to the idea of an elected office is Cllr Kevin Sheahan, who was the first Mayor of Limerick City and County.

He said: “It’s bordering on the ridiculous. This is a total waste of scarce resources which are being squandered on this madcap idea. No thought at all has gone into it. Every time this government wants to distract the people’s minds from the real issues, they get a junior minister to fly a kite trying to get people to debate something which is not important.”

Cllr Sheahan says he will be encouraging his electorate to vote against the idea in the plebiscite.

Mr O’Donovan says it is not yet clear what, if any position, government will take. But he did say it is important there voters when going to the polls for council and European elections on May 24, be aware there will be an extra slip asking their views on this. ”This is probably the biggest form of consultation you’re ever likely to have anywhere. It’s the biggest form of public engagement,” the Minister of State concluded. See editorial P16