'Did you ring around?’ Limerick mayor faces claims of plotting no-confidence motion in colleague

MAYOR John Moran has distanced himself from claims he tried to instigate a motion of 'no confidence' in council priomh-comhairleoir Catherine Slattery.

At a stormy council meeting on Tuesday evening, City East polltopper, Cllr Slattery asked the first citizen directly whether he had bid to have her removed from her role by using a no-confidence motion either himself, or through others.

"I need to raise something with you, mayor," she said. "I was made aware late last week that you contacted members of the Oireachtas and members of this chamber looking for support for a motion of no-confidence in me as Priomh Comhairleoir," she stated.

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Cllr Slattery - who sits at the top table alongside Mayor Moran - raised issues at the meeting over his treatment of her.

She questioned: "Is it because I am a woman?"

Requesting a reply from Mayor Moran, she asked: "Did you ring around?"

The executive mayor initially denied this, saying: "No. The first I heard about it was a request from a journalist as to whether I would have any comment on it. It was not my idea. You can ask that journalist where he got his information from if you wish."

Later on in the debate, veteran councillor Kieran O'Hanlon asked Mayor Moran again.

"I just want to ask the mayor a simple question: did he ring any member of the Oireachtas or councillor here and discuss the position," he asked, referring to a potential no confidence vote in relation to Cllr Slattery.

On this occasion, the mayor said: "Honestly, councillor, I don't recall."

This then saw Fine Gael councillor Sarah Kiely quip: "You should call for a doctor if you don't remember".

Fine Gael City West councillor Dan McSweeney said: "You went a number of minutes ago from saying you had no conversation fairly strongly in relation to a motion (of no-confidence) to now saying you couldn't recall. It's a huge change, Mayor. If I was to give you any piece of advice - and I keep a very good diary myself - I think it might be worth recording the dates you speak to particular councillors."

His party colleague John Sheahan, who leads the Fine Gael bloc on council, addressed Cllr Slattery directly.

"You're not going to get a clear-cut answer. 'I cannot recall', 'I don't remember'. There is no smoke without fire. You didn't pull this (no-confidence) down out of the ether," he said to Cllr Slattery. "I'd be disappointed if you did."

Cllr Slattery had said hearing of the potential of a no confidence motion left her feeling "tormented".

"If any single councillor here went through what I went through at the weekend - to receive a phone call to be told that a vote of no confidence is going to be put in against you, by God, someone used the word upset. I'm a big girl, I wasn't upset at all, I was tormented is what I was. I was heartbroken that someone would see me like that. To try and get rid of me after all the hard work I've done," she said.

Priomh comhairleoir is a new position introduced in the wake of the legislation to bring through a directly elected mayor to Limerick.

Cllr Slattery's main roles include chairing full council meetings, and acting as a spokesperson for the council.

Last week, Cllr Slattery gave a special reception in her role as priomh-comhairleoir to mental health campaigner and boxer Lee Reeves, plus the Southside Women's Group.

Mayor Moran said he would like to see himself and Cllr Slattery, as priomh-comhairleoir, work in tandem on issues which come before the council - something which has not always happened up to now.

"It is not the role, I have said over and over again, of a deputy mayor," he added.

Also during the meeting, Mayor Moran said he felt he was not being treated with respect.

"It has an impact on me as a person. I have spent the last year-and-a-half in the office working many, many more hours than anyone should be asked to work for the betterment of Limerick. I have not felt fully supported," he said.

The meeting, which was supposed to be a briefing about Mayor Moran's budget, effectively turned into a debate following a confidence motion which was laid down in council director general Dr Pat Daly and his staff.

It followed comments Mayor John Moran had made over Christmas in Limerick last week on Live95.