Mayor's summer activities spark massive debate in Limerick
In what has been one of the biggest initiatives of John Moran’s term as executive mayor so far, a variety of new projects have been trialled to keep people in the city. Here, we explore the impact it has had across the city
SEEING children playing hopscotch and enjoying a kickabout on a stretch of a normally busy part of Limerick’s main street is not something anyone expects to see, even at the height of summer.
But Mayor John Moran has earned a reputation for delivering unexpected scenes like this to the city centre.
As part of one of his biggest interventions since becoming Limerick’s first directly elected mayor, he has used the powers of his office to temporarily shut parts of the city centre to traffic.
Like many of Mayor Moran’s initiatives, his plans have proved deeply divisive.
The Summer in the City programme has prompted fierce debate online and on the streets, with Mayor Moran remaining unrepentant in the face of opposition.
"We are doing this to show Limerick is different. Across the world, cities are innovating, they are presenting themselves differently. If we want to stay in this space, we need to be doing it too,” he said at the launch of Summer in the City last month.
There’s been a huge number of events taking place across the weekends throughout August.
The Crescent has played host to an obstacle course. An urban beach has been set up at Steamboat Quay, and there’s also been street theatre.
Groups have responded to a call-out from Mayor Moran for events at The Crescent.
As a result of this, OpenMic061 – Phil Aherne, Bek Diaz and Benoit Vibes – will swap the stage in Charlie Malone’s Pub in Wolfe Tone Street for the outdoor sunshine at The Crescent for a gig.
This coming Saturday night will see a street party, with a long-table dinner in the heart of the Georgian Quarter.
Elsewhere, Lower Glentworth Street has been given the playful moniker, the Glentworth Social, and has played host to set dancing, jazz and tango over the last few weeks.
It’s not Mayor Moran’s first rodeo into these street events – in 2024, he opened an urban beach at The Crescent.
He believes the response from children and families who might otherwise struggle to access such activities is one of the reasons his programme should continue.
"There were people who asked me why I was doing a beach in the city centre because Kilkee is only an hour-and-a-bit up the road, and Ballybunion an hour up the other way.
"What I saw in 2024 was I saw kids using it, and parents sitting nearby watching their kids enjoy it. You could tell these are not kids who could get in the car and go to a beach. They were living in the city, taking their shoes off and getting in sand perhaps for the first time in their lives,” he said.
“I think a lot of people didn’t understand the power of that.”
This year, he saw similar scenes at the enlarged beach in Steamboat Quay.
"There was a lovely video of a grandmother taking her two or three grandchildren, pointing out that it is free. You could tell how reassuring that was for her. She clearly didn’t have a lot of money to be able to pay for stuff.
"I think that dynamic with what we are trying to do with Summer in the City is perhaps less well understood,” added Mayor Moran.
He says experiences like this help him withstand some of the unflattering – and in some cases abusive – comments made about him on social media.
“The reason you see through these is, you walk around the streets, and you meet people. The number of people who are very happy about Summer in the City and what we are trying to do far outweighs the few people who come up to me and say they are opposed,” he explains.
Sarah O’Doherty of the Nursery Times creche at Mallow Street works with children from some of the communities Mayor Moran was referring to.
She took members of her after-school club to both The Crescent and Lower Glentworth Street, where the children enjoyed face-painting, games and slices of pizza, given as a special treat by the mayor.
"It’s great to do things which don’t involve TV and screens. We are going back to basics here – children are chalking, skipping, painting and just generally using the open space,” she said, as the sun shone down.
"It’s putting a lot of smiles on a lot of faces. To have this space and avail of this type of freedom, for quite a few children living in apartments is so unusual.”
Steamboat Quay has also been a highlight, Ms O'Doherty added..
"There’s quite a few children who would not have had any chance to visit [a real] beach. Their families would not be car owners and possibly not have the money to fund a day in Kilkee, which some of us would take for granted.
"They’d not have the money to use for the buses, the expense of going to a chip shop, the expense of maybe an arcade. This can be totally free any day we use it,” she explained.
Independent councillor Maria Donoghue, who has backed the measures, has expressed concern about some of the language used in the criticism.
“I think the energy put into certain arguments does not serve the public best.
"While disagreement is absolutely to be welcomed – that’s democracy – I think the way it has been approached could have been handled better and more productively,” she added.
Cllr Donoghue, who lives in the city centre, has hailed the response from the public to the measures as “a gentle uprising”.
Much of the criticism of the Summer in the City measures has focused on their impact on businesses, with almost 200 traders submitting letters of objection
But the business community is not unanimous in its opposition.
Sawan Sehrawat, who owns the Gala retail outlet located in the shadow of the Daniel O’Connell monument said: “It’s very welcome. In our opinion, it has brought us more business than usual. We’re excited about the long-table event in particular to get involved with the community and enjoy the entertainment.”
Thomas Fialon, who owns The French Table at Steamboat Quay added: “Summer in Limerick can be a quiet place and when the weather is the way it was, you could just close down as you see people driving away from Limerick.
"Instead, we had a good summer – the best ever.”
Alan Andrews, of Guji Coffee which has a branch in a prime spot on O’Connell Street added: “What’s important is there is life in the city.”
He pointed out turnover at his coffee shop has grown – and he has been able to create a new job as a result.
We’ll give the final word in this article to seven-year-old Danny Moroney from Rathbane, one of the children playing in Lower Glentworth Street.
"It feels safe without all the cars here,” he smiled.
Funded by the Local Reporting Scheme