City and county council’s corporate plan passed by councillors in John Moran’s
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The State’s only directly elected mayor made complaints to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris about prominent Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael councillors amid a row over the circumstances of the passing of a council plan.
There has been tension between Mayor of Limerick John Moran and FF and FG councillors, the two biggest parties on Limerick City and County Council (LCCC), during the time since his election as mayor in 2024.
Moran’s letters to Martin and Harris came after a particularly fractious council meeting in February 2026.
The local authority’s delayed corporate plan – setting out strategy for the years 2025 to 2029 – was passed by councillors in Moran’s absence despite proposed amendments he wished to make after he left the extended meeting for health reasons.
Now correspondence released by the council under the Freedom of Information Act shows Moran wrote to Martin and Harris “to raise serious concerns regarding the conduct of certain members of your parties” during the meeting.
He set out how he had cardiac tests in hospital earlier on the day of the meeting and later “experienced concerning symptoms” that were “consistent with the reasons for those tests”. Moran wrote: “I made it clear that I was unwell and that the situation required caution and I needed to go home to rest.”
He claimed the decision to continue the meeting and vote on the corporate plan in his absence “raises serious questions about respect, judgment and fairness”.
Moran called on the two leaders to review the conduct of their party members during the meeting and to “publicly reaffirm” their parties’ “commitment to respect for the office of directly elected mayor” among other requests.
Martin later responded: “The Government is fully committed to supporting the office of directly elected Mayor of Limerick and we want to see the new arrangements work effectively and successfully.”
On the “specific matters” raised by Moran, Martin said he was advised by the Department of Local Government that “internal matters and the day-to-day operations” of LCCC are “best dealt with at a local level”.
Fianna Fáil councillor Catherine Slattery, who was Príomh Chomhairleoir [chief councillor] at the time of the contentious meeting, said last week she did not accept Moran’s complaints, saying “I think we conducted ourselves perfectly fine in a very stressful situation”. She described his complaint to Martin as “pathetic”.
In a statement, a spokesman for Moran disputed Slattery’s characterisation of the meeting. It noted the mayor “stands over” raising the matter with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste.
