Limerick mayor John Moran has called out some local councillors for not respecting \u201chealthy democratic practice\u201d and being \u201chostile\u201d towards him.<\/p>\n
Mr Moran released a statement on his own website on Monday evening, sharing details of what happened at a seven-hour-long meeting last Tuesday, during which he took ill.<\/p>\n
This comes as councillors had gathered at County Hall in Dooradoyle to finalise the corporate plan, a strategic framework detailing what the local authority aims to achieve over a five-year period.<\/p>\n
The blueprint was due to be adopted in December 2024, but because of disagreements inside the council chambers, the plan was delayed for 12 months.<\/p>\n
Five hours in, Mr Moran had to leave the meeting after feeling unwell, following a hospital visit for cardiac tests earlier that day.<\/p>\n
Despite his absence, councillors resumed the meeting and passed the plan \u2013 even though some suggested the meeting should be delayed and resume once Mr Moran had a chance to view the plan.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Mr Moran called the meeting \u201cone of the lowest points since my election\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should have been debating how the organisation should implement the political priorities for Limerick \u2014 particularly taking account of the views of all of the elected councillors as well as the new electoral mandate reflected in the Mayoral Programme. Instead, it became something very different,\u201d said Mr Moran.<\/p>\n
He described how since he got elected, a small minority of councillors from two \u201cruling\u201d parties have \u201cconsistently opposed almost every significant initiative\u201d he has brought forward.<\/p>\n
He named a few projects such as housing initiatives \u201cdismissed as unsuitable dog boxes”, the purchase of a land in Patrickswell, and proposals to build on zoned housing land.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore seriously, I have been accused publicly of \u201cbreaking the law\u201d \u2014 a grave charge made without evidence,\u201d said Mr Moran.<\/p>\n
He claimed \u201ctactics\u201d are being used to ensure his \u201cterm as mayor cannot be successful\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to be asking more questions now of those who keep resisting change from the old status quo – what right do they have to keep opposing reform? The people of Limerick voted for change in principle at the DEM plebiscite in 2019. They chose again in 2024, this time for change in practice too when they chose not to have a mayor from either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael (FFG) who they might have suspected would form the majority in the council chamber.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have long suspected that the strategy of some has been to make the role unbearable \u2014 to create sufficient pressure that I might simply walk away. I have been told directly that such a strategy was openly discussed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Moran emphasised how major discussions should be \u201ccirculated in advance\u201d and how recorded debates should be accessible to the public.<\/p>\n
He also addressed his departure from the meeting due to illness, after noting he informed councillors of the situation at the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not leave because I was annoyed. I did not leave in protest.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarlier that morning, I had attended hospital for cardiac tests. That is a fact. At a critical point in the proceedings, I advised those present that I was experiencing symptoms that concerned me \u2014 symptoms consistent with why I had been in hospital hours earlier\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
Referring to claims of a \u201cculture of fear\u201d inside the council chambers, Mr Moran added: \u201cThere is a difference between robust debate and personal hostility. When disagreement becomes dismissive or mocking \u2014 when serious health concerns are reduced to trivial language and not accommodated \u2014 it diminishes the very institution itself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Limerick mayor John Moran has called out some local councillors for not respecting \u201chealthy democratic practice\u201d and being…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,6999,43,1907],"class_list":{"0":"post-302737","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-munster","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-regional"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}