Efforts to directly elect a mayor for Dublin have failed to be implemented to date, despite widespread endorsement from the recent Citizens’ Assembly, the Oireachtas, communities and citizens in Dublin and many political parties.
The issue was back on the agenda at a recent DCU conference entitled ‘Mayoral Governance in Dublin – Democracy, Devolution and Impact’, organised by DCU’s School of Law and Government at the end of April.
In delivering the keynote speech, Mayor of Limerick, John Moran, noted that the theme of the conference resonated deeply with the transformative changes unfolding in local governments across the world, and “none more so than in my home county of Limerick”.
Moran pointed to a strong sense in Limerick that over centralised government was not serving regional locations well. “In the run-up years to the DEM election, there was a strong belief on the ground that despite huge success in job creation and private enterprise, public sector delivery lagged behind in Limerick for critical infrastructure like healthcare and public transport. And even local government was not delivering well on the many plans it had published like regeneration and Limerick 2030, especially after the collapse of Dell.”
He said that he felt that frustration strongly himself, following his move back to Limerick. “Leaving Dublin and the Department of Finance behind had opened my eyes to how local government was not working in Ireland. So, the mood music was perfect for Limerick to become the test bed for local government reform.”
As a public servant and Ireland’s first directly elected mayor, John Moran believes in taking a proactive approach that focuses on action, delivery and measurable outcomes. The mayor is now responsible for proposing the annual budget, which, in 2025, amounted to €1.68 billion of capital and current spending.
That process is very similar to that which happens at national level where officials in the Department of Finance propose options to the Minister for Finance who ultimately chooses which budget to present to the Oireachtas for approval. “Like at national level that budget is approved by the full council in Limerick. As part of this process, we developed a five-year forward look at capital spending rather than the statutory three-year look forward which prevailed up to now.”
