THE Limerick Health Equity Region Oversight Group, which is made up of more than a dozen leaders from key agencies and community organisations, met last Thursday morning (March 5) to discuss work and priorities.
The Oversight Group, founded in May 2025, is committed to delivering a fairer healthier Limerick for all.
The Limerick Health Equity Region is co-sponsored by the Mayor of Limerick, John Moran and HSE Mid West Regional Executive Officer, Sandra Broderick.
Work underway and discussed at Thursday’s meeting included meaningful direct engagement with 49 children and young people in Limerick City North and South, and also an examination of early years provision in the city.
The Limerick Health Equity Region logo and branding will be created by school children, which will be completed by June 2026.
Dr Mai Mannix, Regional Director of Public Health HSE Mid West, and Limerick Health Equity Region Oversight Group chairperson welcomed the progress in relation to key projects and thanked young people for speaking openly with our staff.
Some examples of their inputs, prompted by questions about their lives, hopes dreams and leisure activities, included the following:
- They made simple requests e.g. asking for “More places for us to hang out and is safe and there's lots of activities for us to do”.
- “Swimming also way too expensive. Like I've seen people just swim in the Shannon River ’cause it's too expensive to go anywhere else”.
- Their experience of living in disadvantaged areas was shown: “... just like they say they're from a rough area and you are not like others”
- The young people had dreams of becoming a pilot, doctor, fitness instructor, youth worker and working with horses. Sadly, some young people had no vision or hope for the future.
“Our early insights clearly show that young people in our communities are eager to speak with us about their challenging lived experiences. Many have spoken to us about their hopes and dreams for their future, whether that was becoming a doctor, pilot or youth worker for example, despite the challenges in their environment and community. But there are also children who are worried about their future because of their environment.
“We also know that early years and children’s services are under huge pressure to deliver supports for parents of young people.
“This encourages us to do more listening and learning to collaborate with the same communities to improve their environments and conditions, in particular to all children and families. We are at the beginning of a city-wide process, and we aim to do it right by working with the people who matter the most – the community.”
Dr Mannix also praised the effective partnership between member organisations in delivering the early phase of the initiative.
Mayor of Limerick, John Moran, commented:
“I have often spoken since my election of the need for Limerick to be a place where every child has the chance to thrive regardless of where they are born or live. That is why I am fully behind this initiative as Limerick delivers as Ireland’s first Marmot city. The ongoing work of this group is about first listening to communities before we roll out ideas, especially to our young people. They are Limerick’s future and their voices matter. At this latest meeting, we heard about outcomes showing how this new group is already making a difference. We also heard powerful truths in the initial feedback from the engagement taking place with teenagers and young adults.”
