The Bestiality Party ??
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I got Helen OâDonnell followed by Maurice Quinlivan. A lot of questions were asked about providing something even at the risk of cutting services. They shouldnât be mutually exclusive
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Thought there were a few loaded questions alright
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The range of mine only spanned from 60% to 83%. Which suggests to me that they all gave fairly much the same generic answers to a lot of the questions.
Yup they go by another name, like the communist party
I got the same,the first few were bullshit, would you like to blah blah blah but would have to cut services
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The communist animal lovers party slogan;
4 legs good, 2 legs bad
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How many Robert OâDonnells can one county handle
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This fella looks to be more even tempered
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Thatâs not going to get us anywhere
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Will the real Robbie o donnell please stand up
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Has he shoes and socks on??
Aodhan and Ciaran
Bit of kerfuffle in Jackman Park earlier i hear.
Who is Pat OâNeill from caherdavin running as an Indo on the council election?
A Galway developer says he asked for 360k to withdraw an objection.
âStrangest election everâ as candidates battle it out to be mayor of Limerick
Nobody knows who will emerge victorious after this Fridayâs vote
The race to become Limerick mayor is heating up but without any polls the candidates are in the dark. Video: Enda OâDowd
Tue Jun 4 2024 - 06:00
Fianna FĂĄilâs candidate to become Irelandâs first directly-elected mayor delivers her pitch to the camera of a âsmartâ doorbell at an empty home. âMy name is Dee Ryan. I am so sorry to have missed you,â she begins, telling the householder she is leaving her leaflet and would âlove to help you with anything at allâ.
As she sprints to the next house she says the message is âon someoneâs phone right now and theyâre either laughing or disgusted â either way they might share it with someone in WhatsApp.â
It is a novel way of campaigning, and Ryan uses it as she competes with 14 other candidates to secure the new role of directly-elected mayor of Limerick.
In the absence of opinion polls bookiesâ odds have been a talking point, albeit they are not being seen as a reliable indicator of support.
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Independent candidates â businesswoman Helen OâDonnell and former Department of Finance secretary general John Moran â have consistently been among the favourites. Also viewed as strong contenders are Ryan â a former Fine Gael and Labour member who left her job as Limerick Chamber chief executive to run in the election; Sinn FĂ©in TD Maurice Quinlivan; and Fine Gael councillor Daniel Butler.
Daniel Butler, Fine Gaelâs candidate in the Limerick mayoral election, canvassing in Castletroy shopping centre. Photograph: Enda OâDowd
In truth nobody has the foggiest notion who will emerge victorious after this Fridayâs vote. Much will depend on eliminations and transfers. Whoever wins will have one of the largest political mandates in the country, and will represent more than 200,000 people.
Limerick voted in favour of having a directly-elected mayor in a 2019 plebiscite. Cork and Waterford rejected similar proposals. The new mayor, to be paid âŹ154,000 per year, will not have the same level of powers as those in New York or London. There have been critics of the limitations of the role â Quinlivan among them.
The most significant power will be proposing the annual budget for Limerick City and County Council of around âŹ700 million. This will need the approval of councillors.
The new mayor will also have guaranteed access to Cabinet Ministers, with a set number of meetings each year. They will have âŹ40 million to allocate for mayoral initiatives in the city and county over five years.
On a canvass near the Gaelic Grounds one householder was impressed with Ryan after last weekâs televised debate, telling her âyou probably have our voteâ.
She raises the issue that, aside from housing, the candidates say has been most consistently brought up on the doors â the overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL) âPeople on trolleys for days. They have to open up another A&E,â she tells the candidate.
Ryan agrees. A key part of her campaign is her aim of securing a commitment that a model three hospital â with a 24-hour emergency department â be located in the region. She suggests one of the ways she can deliver on this as mayor is by maintaining âpolitical focusâ on the issue, including during the set meetings with Ministers.
Sinn FĂ©inâs Quinlivan would consider it a âfailureâ if he was elected and after five years the situation at the hospital âwas worse or not considerably better than it is at the momentâ.
Elizabeth Lyons (101) welcoming the Sinn FĂ©in candidate for Limerick mayor, Maurice Quinlivan, into her home. Photograph: Enda OâDowd
The issue is raised with him on a canvass elsewhere in the city by Margaret Lyons who has concerns about bringing her 101-year-old mother Elizabeth to the hospital should she fall ill. The household are staunch Sinn FĂ©in supporters and centenarian Elizabeth plans to vote for Quinlivan.
The Labour Partyâs Conor Sheehan describes the contest as the âstrangest election everâ, citing the lack of opinion polls. He suggests the outcome could be decided by people in rural parts of the county âwho by and large have felt ignoredâ during the campaign.
Labour Party candidate Conor Sheehan talking to constituent. Photograph: Enda OâDowd
Sheehan is adamant the new mayor âcan do nothing about UHLâ and argues it is âdisingenuousâ to suggest otherwise. He is âsticking to the competencies of the roleâ and reckons the mayor can have an impact on housing. He would push for the âfull devolution of the housing budgetâ in a bid to speed up delivery.
Ryanâs housing proposals include the use of the Governmentâs land acquisition fund to purchase sites for delivering thousands of homes.
Quinlivan says thereâs a lot the mayor can do about housing âif you get government supportâ. He is, of course, hoping that if elected he would soon be working with a government that includes Sinn FĂ©in, and he suggests the party would expand mayoral powers.
Fine Gaelâs Daniel Butler believes that as mayor he could help deliver 2,000 affordable homes across four sites in Limerick.
Helen OâDonnell is highlighting her decades of experience running a catering business as well as her involvement in community groups and charitable organisations, including the JP McManus Benevolent Fund.
Helen OâDonnell is an Independent candidate who hopes to become the first directly-elected mayor of Limerick. Photograph: Enda OâDowd
Billionaire racehorse owner McManus last week publicly endorsed her to be mayor while confirming he has not financially supported her or any other candidate in the race.
In 2023 McManus gave âŹ1 million to GAA boards in each of the 32 counties, prompting gratitude from the GAA but also leading some national opposition politicians to question his status as tax resident in Switzerland, where he has conducted his main business for many years. He is a popular figure in Limerick and his intervention backing OâDonnell will not necessarily have been welcomed by other candidates.
Asked if McManusâs tax status could become an issue in the mayoral race, OâDonnell said the question is not relevant to her and her campaign, adding âmy focus is on the final few days when a lot of the electorate make up their mindsâ.
She said it is âa great honour to have Mr McManus endorse meâ.
In Killmallock some of those she meets on the street mention their regard for her late husband Tom who was a Fine Gael TD and MEP. She herself was a member of Fine Gael until just before she entered the election race as an Independent. Is it not naive to think she will be viewed as Independent after her long involvement with Fine Gael?
She says if elected she would have âa very good working relationship [with councillors] across the boardâ, adding âI think itâs essential for the success of this mayoraltyâ.
Is Fine Gaelâs candidate Daniel Butler concerned OâDonnell could chip away at his support base?
âNoâ, is his direct answer. He says he has the backing of the party, including former minister for finance and Limerick TD Michael Noonan, and âweâre really feeling momentumâ.
Amid concern around the country over abuse of politicians during the current elections, some mayoral candidates have also had some bad experiences.
A picture of Butlerâs family home was posted online along with his address and a message encouraging people to smash the windows. He reported the post to gardaĂ but is undeterred in his election campaign, saying he and his wife decided they would not be intimidated by anybody.
Social Democrats candidate Elisa OâDonovan, meanwhile, said: âYou only have to look at my social media to see the abuse that is directed at me every day.â
Candidates reported that one contentious subject, immigration, has not been a major issue on the campaign trail. Quinlivan said it rarely comes up on the doors, adding âwe donât have any far-right candidate or any person who would have come out against immigrationâ.
So what are various candidates highlighting in the closing days of the race?
OâDonovan says âwe need buses that arrive on timeâ and âa fair housing allocation systemâ, adding âIf we get the basics right Limerick will be a great place to liveâ.
John Moran says âpeople understand that the role [of mayor] is a serious executive role. Theyâre looking for somebody with a serious executive experience, which obviously I have.â
Green Party TD Brian Leddin is pushing for a rail line to Shannon Airport, saying this would drive development and âitâs actually a housing plan and a commercial development plan as much as it is a transport planâ.
Dr Laura Keyes of Rabharta wants to bring in a culture of âuniversal designâ in Limerick to improve accessibility for people with disabilities and the population at large.
Tackling homelessness and addiction is a key theme of AontĂș candidate Sarah Beasleyâs campaign, and she would seek to deliver a new addiction centre within her first year in office.
People Before Profit candidate RuairĂ Fahy has highlighted the limitations of the office of mayor but says he wants to âgo beyond the legislationâ and use it to help workers, carers and parents stand up for themselves.
The other candidates are Independent councillor Frankie Daly, CaitrĂona NĂ ChaithĂĄin (Socialist Party), Gerben Uunk (Party of Animal Welfare) and Colm Ă MĂłrĂĄin (Independent).
The success or otherwise of Limerickâs new mayor will be closely watched in government and in other parts of the country in the years ahead. As he made his pitch for the job, Butler said: âWe need somebody that can bed it in, make it a success, and to show Limerick in a good light. We donât want it to turn into a national embarrassment. We want this to show up as a national success so a few places, like DublinâŠwill want to follow suit.â
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Cormac McQuinn
](Cormac McQuinn - The Irish Times)
Cormac McQuinn is a Political Correspondent at The Irish Times
OâDonnell now favourite ahead of Butler but a few more twists and turns left in this box office contest
With the absence of opinion polls and the fact that itâs the first one means that itâs probably one where a bookieâs outsider could easily be a winner.
Butler doesnât come across as an overly inspiring character to me, Iâd find it hard to see him getting enough votes to win.
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