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Councillor Gavin, President Cunnane, Dean Caleshu, faculty and staff of LSAD, families, friends, supporters and most importantly tonight - the graduating designers and creatives of LSAD. It is a real pleasure to be here with you this evening.
Last week, in an all too rare trip to the cinema after a long Riverfest weekend, Damien and I went to see The Devil Wears Prada 2.
And sitting there watching this world of creativity, ambition, glamour, pressure, reinvention, intrigue and entrepreneurship unfold before me, I suddenly found myself thinking:
“Part of the future of Limerick is sitting right here on this screen.”
Because across Limerick, something genuinely exciting is beginning to happen.
It is not just about our tradition as one of the world’s great clothing manufacturing cities. It is not just about the spectacular Limerick Lace or even the bronze and gold jewellery some 4,000 years old found in Limerick and on display in the Hunt museum.
No.
It is about the creative ecosystem that has existed quietly for decades is beginning to connect, gain confidence and step into the spotlight. Designers, photographers, filmmakers, stylists, artists, educators and entrepreneurs are beginning to pull in the same direction.
And tonight, looking around this room, I can feel that momentum. I can feel that energy. Limerick’s different type of energy.
This is not just a fashion show.
This is confidence.
This is creativity.
This is a city beginning to believe more deeply in its own talent again.
And for that, every one of you graduating tonight deserves enormous congratulations.
Because creativity is not easy.
Good ideas are not always immediately understood.
In fact, truly original ideas often make people uncomfortable at first.
Sometimes creative people feel like outsiders precisely because they are seeing the world a little differently — perhaps even a little earlier — than everyone else around them.
I understand that feeling more than you might think.
Some of the ideas I have put forward as Mayor — around fashion, regeneration, creativity, public space, international partnerships — have not always been immediately embraced either.
But innovation rarely begins with consensus.
The people who change cities are rarely the people who simply follow the crowd.
More often, they are the people brave enough to see possibility before everyone else does.
So tonight, I want to encourage you to hold onto that instinct.
Keep questioning.
Keep experimenting.
Keep creating.
Keep bringing forward ideas that others may not yet fully understand.
Because cities need creative people not simply to decorate them — but to reimagine them.
And increasingly, I believe Limerick is becoming a city willing to embrace that creativity.
That is why supporting fashion and creative industries became such an important priority for me during the mayoral campaign.
Not because fashion is superficial.
Quite the opposite.
Fashion is identity.
Fashion is craftsmanship.
Fashion is confidence.
Fashion is culture made visible.
I have seen that firsthand even through something as simple as the Mayor’s waistcoats that local designers created for me this year.
When Mary O’Sullivan began designing one of them, she asked me a question I thought was extraordinarily thoughtful:
“What symbol of Limerick would you like placed over your heart?”
Now, I chose King John’s Castle — emblematic perhaps of the strength and history of our city — though I will admit the Chicken Hut was not too far behind in the conversation.
But what struck me was the thoughtfulness behind the question itself.
The understanding that design is not simply about appearance.
It is about meaning.
Connection.
Story.
Identity.
Then, in another waistcoat, the hand embroidery subtly picked up the leaf motif from the mayoral chain itself — another beautiful example of lateral thinking, connecting civic tradition with contemporary design.
Those details matter.
Because they remind us that creative people see connections others often miss.
And that ability — to connect ideas, stories, symbols and emotions — is one of the greatest strengths any city can possess.
That is also why we are pushing ahead with the Fashion Incubator project on Mary Street.
Not simply as a building.
But as a place for collaboration.
For co-creation.
For shared ambition.
A place where emerging designers can access facilities, mentoring and equipment that might otherwise be beyond reach individually.
A place where local SMEs can grow.
A place where designers from Limerick can collaborate with creatives from Austin, Brooklyn and beyond.
And importantly, a place in the historic heart of Limerick itself.
Because I believe deeply that creativity belongs not on the margins of our city — but at its centre.
That is the wider vision we are trying to build:
a creative quarter under the bells of St Mary’s Cathedral.
A place where fashion, film, music, heritage, education and enterprise reinforce one another.
A place where old streets help shape a new future.
And a place where talented graduates like you increasingly feel you can build a life and career.
Now, I also know that some of you may leave Limerick for a while after tonight.
And honestly, that is okay.
You should go.
Explore.
Travel.
Work in different cities.
Build your confidence.
Learn from the world.
But know this:
We are working to build a Limerick ambitious enough to welcome you back.
A city increasingly connected internationally.
A city beginning to believe in itself again.
A city where creativity is no longer treated as secondary — but recognised as central to our future.
Because the next great chapter of Limerick’s story will not only be built in steel, concrete and infrastructure —
but also in creativity, culture and design.
And looking around this room tonight, I have never been more optimistic about that future.
Congratulations to all of you and let’s get this show on the road.
Go raibh mile maith agaibh go leir.
