Limerick days away from first directly-elected mayor in ‘groundbreaking’ role

Limerick is only days away from selecting its first directly-elected mayor in what has been described as a “groundbreaking” election.

As voters get ready to go to the polls, it remains unclear who could emerge the winner and take on one of the biggest political mandates in Ireland.

It is the first time Irish citizens will elect their local first citizen, in what is seen as a test case for the rest of the state.

The mayor will take over a redesigned local government system, which will see many of the chief executive functions transferred over to the new elected post.

The changes come following Limerick’s 2019 plebiscite.

A total of 15 candidates are running for the mayor’s seat. They are:

Sarah Beasley of Aontu; Daniel Butler of Fine Gael; Independent Frankie Daly; Ruairi Fahy of People Before Profit; Laura Keyes of Rabharta; Brian Leddin of the Green Party; Indepedent John Moran; Caitriona Ni Chathain of the Socialist Party; Independent Helen O’Donnell; Elisa O’Donovan of the Social Democrats; Indepedent Colm O’Morain; Maurice Quinlivan of Sinn Fein; Dee Ryan of Fianna Fail; Conor Sheehan of the Labour party and Gerben Uunk of The Animal Welfare Party.

Deiric O Broin, a professor of public policy practice in the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University (DCU), described the election as “groundbreaking”.

Looking ahead to Friday’s election, he said it was “all to play for”, with no clear winner emerging in recent weeks.

However, Prof O Broin, who was also a member of the Expert Advisory Group to the Dublin Citizens’ Assembly, said there were five candidates to watch.

“It does look like after 15 who are in the mix, we’re looking at maybe four or five that appear to be doing quite well,” he told the PA news agency.

“We’ve never done this before, and it’s a single seat constituency that’s quite a diverse constituency, that has never voted itself like this. So that in itself, makes it more difficult to read.

“But of the 15, it looks like there are five to watch.”

Prof O Broin said that Ireland is an “incredibly centralised country”, particularly around the competence of powers that are devolved to local governments.

“It’s a very weak system,” he added. “There are a variety of vested interests.

“We have this quite odd system that’s led by chief executives, and then you have councillors that have a relatively limited range of powers, and even within that some of them are super busy and some of them are a lot less, depending on where they are. That’s very challenging.”

He said that local authorities have a very narrow range of power, which he described as “unusual” compared to other countries.

“What’s happening in Limerick, and I think this is why it is groundbreaking, is for about many years there have been move to have directly elected mayors with more confidences, more power,” he said.

“There was recognition that it there was a system failure, it is not working the way it should work.”

He said that if this elected office becomes a success, it could lead to other local authorities bringing in their own elected mayor.

“It is a very limited, weak political office within our system. So that’s why Limerick is so exciting, you’re reversing things,” he added.

“It’s still a relatively weak model, but it’s so much better than what we have.

“The biggest thing it will do, it will create a direct link between the senior politician in an area and their electorate.

“We use terms like, the mayor is the first citizen, but I’m always struck that the citizens have no role in the election of their first citizen. So this is the first time that Irish citizens will elect their local first citizen.

“For me, that’s one of the really simple attractions, is that direct connection. So it’ll create a new type of political leadership.”

Limerick’s election is widely referred to as a test case, which puts pressure on the mayor to ensure the success of the new office.

However, Prof O Broin said that while the office has some of the tools to make it successful, the legislative framework doesn’t provide for all it needs.

“It’s still a relatively risk averse sort of piece of legislation,” he added.

“It’s still radical in an Irish setting, but they’ve been very careful, and hopefully it’s a role that will grow.

“The hope is that everybody will help them make a success of the role so that Galway, Waterford and Cork will follow.”

Kevin Leyden, professor of Political Science at the University of Galway, said that the person elected as mayor will be transferred many of the powers from the chief executive.

“The (new mayor) will be allowed to set agendas and come up with programme ideas for the city, and also propose the budget for the city and what the budget priorities will be,” Prof Leyden said.

“That has to be approved, of course, by the council so they have to work with the council. But they are making priorities. They are making budget suggestions. They are emphasising certain new directions.

“In many ways, this could be a very exciting time for Limerick city and county, because they’re going to have a mayor who can take the city and county in a new direction, if he or she chooses to do so.

“What’s also exciting about that is that they’re elected by the people, and they have to work with the City Council. It’s a more democratic process and therefore there’s some public accountability.

“The newly elected mayor, as far as I understand, is elected to a five year term, and they can run for re-election at least once.”