Dooley suggests renaming Limerick City

IN a twist to the current boundary extension debate, Deputy Timmy Dooley has suggested that the boundary of Counties Clare and Limerick could be redrawn so that Limerick City is balanced partly in County Clare and partly in County Limerick. He further suggested that the city could then be renamed to “incorporate the identity of both counties’.
In a submission to the Limerick Local Government Committee, the Fianna Fáil deputy said the boundary could be redrawn to correspond with the path of the River Shannon, thereby creating two developed blocks – one in each county.
“The city is then rebalanced partly in County Clare and partly in County Limerick. The city could be renamed to incorporate the identity of both counties. This developed area is then effectively a combination of two cities that can be presented as one conurbation, which has the capacity to extend without the necessity to continuously move county boundaries.”
Despite Clare County Council and Limerick County Council completely ruling out a boundary extension into South-East Clare last week, the issue is firmly back on the table again after Limerick City Council reinforced its bid for more of its neighbouring counties.
According to Limerick City Council’s submission to the Limerick Local Government Committee, which was agreed by members at an in-camera meeting last Thursday, Limerick City Council wants Ardnacrusha, Shannon Banks, Meelick, Parteen and Westbury.
The city manager, Tom Mackey, stated that the amended proposal for a boundary extension in October 2005 set out four key reasons why the boundary of the city should be extended with a single city authority to cover the entire metropolitan area. These reasons were that strong cities make strong regions; city governance should be unitary; cities should enjoy joined-up service provision and city resources should be re-invested in the city. This week, the city manager said that all of these reasons still remain valid today.
The city council submission also ruled out a unitary council for all of Limerick, totally dismissing Limerick County Council’s proposal outright. The submission received unanimous support.
Mayor of Limerick, Kevin Kiely said that it is essential that Limerick remains a city and not be downgraded by being subsumed into a rural county.
The date for submissions has now closed and over 50 submissions had been received and were available to view online at www.limericklgc.ie this Wednesday.
Shannon Development has made a lengthy submission to the Limerick Local Government Committee recommending that the Limerick City boundary needs to be extended to ensure that it has the necessary scale and resource base from which to drive the economic development of the Limerick/Shannon Gateway and Shannon Region. The development agency further stated that one governing organisation with responsibility for Limerick city and county is the optimal structure to manage a Greater Limerick Area with a larger and stronger Limerick City at its core.
Shannon Development also suggested that Clare County Council and a new Greater Limerick Authority – working jointly – is the optimal structure to deliver development. It further recommended that the lands identified in County Clare for the University of Limerick campus should remain in County Clare on the basis that the overall campus development would be jointly managed by Clare County Council and the new Greater Limerick Authority. In addition, it recommended that residential areas on the city periphery but currently in County Clare, such as Westbury and Shannon Banks, should become part of Limerick City. This would enlarge the population of Limerick City by 4,000.
In his submission to the committee, Clare Fine Gael Deputy Pat Breen suggested that the committee address the local governance requirements of Limerick City and county without making any encroachments into County Clare.
“I wish to put on record my total opposition to any changes of arrangements for local government of Limerick city and county which would include any adjustment between the boundary of County Clare and Limerick City/County. I also wish to endorse and put on record my unequivocal support for the submission forwarded to you by Clare County Council,” he said.
He further stated that since the establishment of the committee, he has been inundated with calls from people living in all corners of Clare with a significant number of people from the parishes of Meelick, Parteen, Ardnacrusha and Clonlara contacting him.
“They do not want to see any change in the current local government structure and they wish to remain under the management of Clare County Council,” he added.
Deputy Dooley’s submission also stated that, in his opinion, extending the city boundary into County Clare is unnecessary, inappropriate and seeks to resolve a problem that doesn’t exist.
“Such action will divide people of a common heritage and will alienate them from their roots and undermine the foundation of their identity. The governance of an area, region, county or parish should exist to serve the people, not to serve the bureaucracy,” he said.
He added, “The Spatial Strategy identified Limerick and Shannon as the Gateway to the Mid-West and while clearly the two locations are not within the same local administrative region, it is vital that an intense level of co-operation must exist between the local authorities to ensure the potential of both is maximised for the benefit of the region.”
He suggested an enhanced role for the Mid-West Regional Authority to assist in the resolution of items of conflict between neighbouring local authorities and act as lead agency in the preparation of a strategy for the development, growth and management of the City of Limerick. He also recommended abolishing Limerick City Council.
Limerick Chamber has recommended an extended city, including parts of County Limerick but not of Clare, within a unified authority.
A number of individuals, including county and city councillors from across the region have also made submissions to the Limerick Local Government Committee, as have An Taisce, Clare Fianna Fáil Comhairle Dáil Ceantair, Limerick IFA, Limerick Enterprise Development Programme, Sinn Féin Limerick, Meelick GAA Club, Ballyhoura Development, Mary Immaculate College Limerick, the University of Limerick and former president of UL, Dr Edward Walsh.