Keynote Speech by Mayor John Moran at the Inauguration of the Mayor of Limerick

We come together as one Limerick.  I thank you all, and especially all the candidates in our recent election, for your presence today.  I also thank and welcome all our dear friends who have come to Limerick to mark this historic day, in the evolution of our Limerick, in the evolution of our local governance and in the evolution of the office of our mayor.

In the days since the election, I have felt a tangible new magic, a new energy and a new confidence in the air in Limerick. 

I have never been so proud of Limerick. At a time of much cynicism in the world, we have just witnessed remarkable levels of inter-generational interest in the politics which govern our city region. I know that the many salutes and car horns I have experienced since is not personal to me but a representation of a new connection the people of Limerick now feel with the office of their mayor.

I believe, at this historic time, we each know that Limerick has gone through a right of passage to a new maturity as a city region. The arrival of new change some 100 years since independence has lifted our spirits.  For years, we have looked with envy at the hundreds of European towns and cities who have travelled this road before us. We now share with them the privilege of knowing that the Mayor to champion Limerick’s interests is chosen (as explained so well by Doctor Logan earlier) by no one other than the people of Limerick themselves. 

Right across Limerick, this change has been embraced by young and old alike.

I felt that new energy and pride talking yesterday to a lady from Carew Park. As she prepared a sandwich for me in the shop, she explained how she lived next door from one of our canvassers and was sorry to have missed us when we called. I saw it when two local kids stopped me as I was walking our dog in the street just around the corner because they recognised me from our posters and wanted to say hello to whom they called “their Mayor”. I felt it in the excitement of the kids from my old school in St Paul’s or Milford where Councillor Joe Pond works, who rushed me to get the autograph of “the Mayor”. I saw it in the pride of the community group in Kileedy last night, as they assembled right beside me, their Mayor, who had travelled to be with them and lead the discussions to explain how they wanted rural Limerick better served to the delegation from the OECD visiting their little corner of Limerick. And I have felt it daily in the welcomes of colleagues in City Hall.

For the first time in the history of Limerick, the Mayor of Limerick, or Meara Luimni is not just the Mayor, but is the Mayor of the people and belongs truly to them!

Limerick has taken its place, unique among all of the local authorities in Ireland, as a place where all  residents who can vote now select their mayor.  That is a special and valued right.  It is why those voters, came through on polling day with a maturity many naysayers said could not happen. 

Today, I want the decision makers in Dublin to hear our new and combined voice loudly and clearly. The long overdue roll back of the centralisation of decision making on our island must not be put at risk. We will not accept it if our long awaited autonomy is stifled with unnecessary levels of red-tape or the changes the residents of Limerick voted for are not given the funding they so badly need.

On June 7, in ways that pleased me so much, Limerick also united as one Limerick. With a resounding message to a world which is too often based on division, Limerick declared it sees its own strength in its diversity.  Let those who try to sow division in our society hear that clearly. Limerick voted for a vision of one Limerick and a Limerick which must include everyone, rural and urban as well as new and old communities right across the entire county. 

There was no ambiguity in the result. 

For the voters there was only one right vision. It did not cater just to the county or the city, or to the east, west, north or south. It proposed solutions to concerns raised by a wide diversity of voters.

I am humbled as I am and should be by those voters choosing me to be their mayor. I know above all that I take up an office which comes with a heavy responsibility. 

So today, I resolve to all gathered here and to all who call Limerick home today and in the future, to strive night and day to be faithful to your vision of a united Limerick coming together as one.

And there is work to be done.

This morning, especially to let them know that they matter to all of Limerick, I started this day of celebration for Limerick with some of the amazing communities of King’s Island. I hope that all of my successors choose to do likewise.

It haunts me daily that, even within sight of the very tower of this cathedral which has withstood sieges, famines and other challenges through our history, a building which has been at the heart of Limerick and its governance for so long, still live families who feel forgotten by the rest of us. And worse I know having walked far and wide across the county that they are not alone.  

Right across our county in one of its richest periods of Limerick's, indeed Ireland’s, history, children born right here in Limerick start the race of life without so many of the advantages of many of our other cherished children. 

I know we cannot unwind all of these problems over five years. But I can, and do, promise I will work relentlessly on them, knowing that the thousands of people of Limerick who voted for me have asked me to do exactly that. Today I ask in particular all of our assembled councillors to come together with me and the officials to use all of the levers at our disposal to provide a more equal opportunity in life for all our children.

Because we can and should be doing better.   

As we move forward into the next hundred years of independence for Limerick and Ireland, we do so armed with advantages our forefathers could only have dreamed of 100 years ago. 

Our future is bright. 

Brighter than it has ever been.

And we face that future more united than ever, united in our sense of belonging, united in our resolve to look after one another and united in the knowledge that if we work not individually but together in solving the problems of the future, we as a society can overcome all the issues which might today seem impossible to resolve.

And the key to solving them lies right here in Limerick. Every year, ever more and more talented kids leave our schools and colleges to work in firms and organisations all across our county. I want to work with them all to find new solutions to our everyday problems and to help Limerick discover solutions to the problems which face society at large.

I have seen first-hand in the past three months, the resolve of our youth to play their part in making  Limerick a better place.  

Our duty now, and I personally will do what I can to lead on that, is to create a Limerick where all of them and their friends can always feel welcome, whoever they may be or whatever their religious belief or sexual preferences.

A Limerick where they like others can enjoy the amenities of our great region without fear as they walk home late from work.

A Limerick where most of all renting or buying a home is very much within their means, if they commit to working hard and sharing their skills as well as respecting their obligations as they play their part in our society.

I have also seen the amazing dedication of parents and grandparents too. They throughout the campaign and indeed long before, have given hours and hours of their time to build a better future for their children and their grandkids.  As they themselves move forward to the later years of life, we owe it to them too to provide a Limerick which can thank them for all of their efforts on our behalf and most of all a Limerick where if they fall sick, they can approach our healthcare services not in fear but with a confidence that they will be treated with the care and respect they above all deserve.

And lastly, I have witnessed first hand the dedication of our front line workers, the officials in Limerick City and County Council and the others who work in the charitable sector. I thank them for all they do to make our Limerick a better place for all.

Together in this hallowed building, as we listen to the voices of past generations which swirl around us and fill this space with the echoes of their wisdom, as we build on the work of leaders like our own Donncha O’Malley, Jim Kemmy and Brendan O’Reagan, we know that it falls to our generation to now do its duty to continue to make Limerick an even better place. 

The people of Limerick have proclaimed clearly to us here in government in Limerick and even more loudly to those in Dublin that they want a better Limerick. 

As I have said over and over these past few months. 

To those who say it cannot be done, I say Why Not.

To those who say it cannot be done, I say the people of Limerick do not agree with you.

To those who say it cannot be done, I say in this very building and to those three amazing children who represent the future of our Limerick, the naysayers have not counted on the resolve of the Limerick people, on the resilience that has brought Limerick through adversity and on our community spirit that has shown over and over again that together united as one we are an unbeatable force.

I am truly honoured to be chosen and trusted by you, the people of Limerick, to be your mayor and I commit today to diligently perform all the responsibilities entrusted to me and to serve all of you, the people of Limerick, to the best of my ability.

Thank you.