Limerick City East polltopper set to take leading role in council as power shifts to FF

THE PENDULUM of power is to shift in the direction of Fianna Fail at County Hall, with the party likely to elect two of its members to top local authority positions.

Before last summer’s election for directly elected mayor, which saw the instatement of John Moran for at least five years, there was an annual battle to be named the first citizen of Limerick for 12 months.

That took place at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the council.

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While the mayoral election is no longer a fixture at the AGM, there are still a number of key roles to be filled.

Chief among them is that of príomh chomhairleoir, whose role is to chair monthly meetings of the council and act as the speaker for the local authority.

They will get support from the leas-phríomh chomhairleoir, their deputy.

The job title was created as part of the legislation which brought in the office of Limerick and Ireland’s first directly elected mayor.

Patrickswell Fine Gael councillor Dan McSweeney had the honour of becoming Limerick’s first holder of the office of príomh chomhairleoir.

His party colleague, Cllr Noreen Stokes, elected for the first time last summer, was elected leas-phriomh comhairleoir.

It is widely expected that City East Fianna Fail councillor Catherine Slattery will be elected the next priomh chomhairleoir of Limerick City and County Council.

This is because of a deal Fine Gael put together with Fianna Fail to divide up the top jobs on the council.

This arrangement has been in place for 11 years since Limerick City Council merged with Limerick County Council.

The sheer size of the authority - 40 members - means no single party is ever likely to be able to form an administration.

Secretary to long-serving Limerick TD Willie O’Dea, Cllr Slattery was first elected in 2019.

Last summer, she topped the poll, with an impressive personal vote of 1,894, a surplus of 286 over the quota.

She has already held one senior position in council, that of metropolitan district leader between 2021 and 2022.

Born in Prospect, the mother-of-two now lives in Old Cork Road. She has also resided in Rathbane and Hyde Road.

She’s worked for Mr O’Dea since 2013.