Mayor: 'Limerick needs €2bn to reach potential'
Part one of a two part interview as John Moran approaches 100 days in office
SINCE becoming the first ever directly elected mayor of Limerick in June, John Moran admits he can count on just one hand the days he has taken off.
And he jokes he would like to find a way to “split myself in four” so he can ensure he gets to as many events as he can.
“Do you have a sandwich? I’d like lunch,” the mayor laughs, as he sits down with Limerick Live for an interview ahead of his 100th day in office, as if to provide evidence he rarely stops - checking in for work early and leaving late.
Mayor Moran has plenty to do, having been elected to the role on a manifesto of delivering on housing, infrastructure and a better quality of life in Limerick.
Although he has made inroads into this, he is eager to ensure he is visible in a city and county where he was elected on more than 4,500 votes ahead of the candidate to finish in second position, Helen O'Donnell, Ind.
Just hours after his election, he enjoyed lunch with the locals at St Munchin’s Community Centre on the city’s northside.
Looking out from his office which overlooks the River Shannon and King John’s Castle, Mayor Moran also outlines that he has been in Askeaton where he took part in a flag parade to mark the castle’s 825th anniversary. There were trips to Newcastle West, Templeglantine and Athea in the days before and after throw-in for good measure - and he has also been in the sunny south-east of Ireland flying the green flag.
Although he lives in Raheen - and is planning to move into the heart of the Georgian Quarter - Mayor Moran has deep ties to rural Limerick.
He was raised on a farm between Mungret and Patrickswell, while his relatives are the Morans from Athea - the same family who run the landmark Red Cow in Dublin.
Prior to his election, the 58-year-old had enjoyed a career in the public and private sectors.
The first in his family to go to third level, he studied law in University College Dublin.
From there, he earned a master’s from the Wharton Business and Law Schools at University of Pennsylvania before spending three years on Wall Street.
Spells back in Ireland, New York and Zurich followed, before opening a juice bar in Paris.
A former Land Development Agency chair, he was also the right-hand man to former Finance Minister Michael Noonan at the Department of Finance.
It was a battle with bowel cancer which was the catalyst for Mayor Moran to make a return to public life, mapping out his plans to become Limerick’s first directly elected mayor in 2022 before going public earlier this year.
Since his election, he is delighted with the engagement he has had with the public.
The most surprising thing for him is youngsters wanting to pose for selfies and being asked to sign shirts on school visits.
“For democracy, it’s super. We know people don’t always necessarily engage with their politicians,” he says.
It’s not all been positive: Mayor Moran has admitted huge frustration over the hoops he has to jump through to do things.
“The negative is seeing how many obstacles exist. Silly things that shouldn’t be in the system. (For example), someone has resigned three months ago, and you can’t just hire somebody to replace them because you have to get permission from the department.
“Say you have a design for a bridge across the river. You can’t do that unless you have approval for all the money. You can’t even get going to get shovel-ready to ask for the rest of it. You just know things need to get done and just want to get on with it.”
He is hoping the capital budget - due on October 1 - will start to change this from Limerick’s point of view.
Mayor Moran - flanked by his Red Setter dog Henri, a constant presence by his side - believes that given the endorsement he’s received from the local electorate, it should now be the case that he gets his own batch of funding to spend how he sees fit - which he feels would cut red tape.
Under government’s National Planning Framework, Limerick is projected to grow at twice the rate of Dublin - an increase of up to 56,000 people.
“There is a huge deficit in how much money is being spent particularly outside Dublin. Whatever Dublin has, places like Limerick are getting only half of that per capita. But they are supposed to be growing twice as fast in terms of population growth. So you could argue we are four times behind what they should have if they are on the same footing as Dublin. We've been making this point for the last couple of weeks to various government ministers. I think most other central government people are seeing this. The question is ‘will this be the year they move, or will it be next year’,” he asks.
“The reality is, if you'd equalise things for Limerick over the next seven years, you should be seeing between €1.5bn and €2bn invested in Limerick. That's not in the pipeline. It's why we don't have enough houses. It's why we don't have a train station in Moyross. We don't have the things we need for Limerick to reach its potential.”
As things stand - even under upgraded laws for the office of mayor - Mayor Moran must ask for things project-by-project.
It doesn't bode well for the government’s own growth target, he feels.
“In the next 16 years, if you drive around Limerick, every time you pass two homes, you should see another one. For every two schools you know in Limerick, there should be another one. We are looking out the window here, and there are what, like two or three cranes. There should be cranes all over the sky.”
With his own funding, he argues, it could be locally decided what projects to prioritise.
“You should give an envelope of money to somebody who is a directly elected mayor for them to work with the local council to come up with the best use of funds,” he says.
Mayor Moran points to areas of Limerick where residents have been living under boil notices due to undrinkable water - or areas without housing capacity.
“You might say for 2025, this is our biggest priority. To get people to be able to open a tap in their house again and make a cup of tea without having to buy water. We weren't able to say to the extent that Limerick had funding, that this is our priority. If the funding had come this year in a tourist area, we couldn't move it to water. The big change would be, in effect, instead of having to ask mum, and dad and aunts and uncles all for the individual amounts of money, you just get it all, and outline how you will spend it for the year.”
Within weeks of his taking office, Mayor Moran unveiled his strategy for his five-year term of office in a document running to more than 100 pages.
He acknowledges it caused apprehension at government level.
“I think the biggest issue government have with the plan is it's the first time it's been put down on paper just how much Limerick needs to get. That's probably worrying for government, because they feel if Limerick needs that much, there are an awful lot of other mouths to feed.”
But the mayor feels there is enough money to go around.
“I am not so convinced the money is not there. It's just the system is unable to deliver quickly enough.”
A general election is expected if not later this year, early next year.
Rather than seeing it as a challenge - given the new personnel who could be in government - he sees it as an opportunity.
“As long as I can convince every party going in the general election that Limerick needs a better deal, then no matter who becomes government, they've already agreed. How much better? They may differ. How we get there? They may differ. Unlike a chief executive of a council, I am arguing for Limerick. This is what Limerick has said it wants. I don't think any government should dismiss that.”
His aim for his time in office?
“The important thing to keep in mind is, Limerick has not gotten a good deal in the last number of years. It needs to get a better deal.
“The best way to do that is to actually have everybody who cares about Limerick looking for a better deal.