Mayor of Limerick to speak at UCC

By Daniel O’Neill

Ireland’s first directly elected mayor will discuss his role and the challenges and difficulties that come along with it in a lecture in UCC next week.

The Mayor of Limerick John Moran will be speaking at UCC on 4 March and his lecture is titled From the People, For the People: Leading Limerick with a Mandate. He will also discuss his vision for the future of Limerick.

John Moran was elected last year and became Ireland’s first directly elected mayor. Where usually the mayor would be elected by local councillors to serve a twelve-month term, as is the case in Cork city and Cork county, John Moran was directly elected by the people to serve a five-year term and possess significant powers.

This change was voted in by the people in 2019, and lead to Ireland’s first-ever direct mayoral election taking place in June last year.

The now Mayor of Limerick topped the polls with over 18,000 first preference votes. In his election speech the Independent candidate and former Department of Finance secretary general said: “It was obvious to the people of Limerick in 2019, as it is now, that there is a system of government in Ireland that needs to change to re-establish democracy.”

UCC’s Dr Aodh Quinlivan who organised the lecture said: “It is most fitting that a lecture series which commemorates Ireland’s first local authority city manager, Philip Monahan, should be delivered by Ireland’s first directly elected mayor, John Moran. Should the Limerick experiment be repeated in Cork and throughout the country? It is worth noting that in 2019, voters in Cork city said no to the proposal to have a directly elected lord mayor.”

John Moran will present at 11am on 4 March in UCC’s Aula Maxima. The event is free and all are welcome.