Directly Elected Mayor

TLC is one day a year and Tidy Towns is a small group of people volunteering to litter pick twice a week in the summer and once a week during the winter. She is referring to street cleaning which is a function of the local authority. Generally I think the lads who clean the streets do a good job and bins are rarely full except during times like Riverfest. However, small things like choosing right materials for paving so as not to show up dirt, sorting out dereliction and vacancy which can result in dumping, introducing shopfront planning policies etc can go a long way to improving the visual appearance of our cities.

I genuinely wonder if Maurice Quinlivan just prefers the idea of council work to national work. He was top dog on the council for many years, never held the office of mayor, but always stood up very loudly for the people in his LEA. Contrast that with becoming a backbencher and not having much of a voice in many matters at naional level. If he's successful in the mayorality it gives him the chance to go back to the politics he may have a preference for.

With the upcoming Westminster elections SF will get a boost as well in the face of a weakened DUP/Tories as the news of opnion polls and debates in the north filter South. As you correctly say as well. A by-election win will be another kick to the current govt not long before a GE.

I think Leddin is running to gauge the support of the green party. They are probably in internal discussions of running 2 candidates in the next GE and will do so if Leddin polls well

Quinlivan will probably top the poll, he might even win but I still think it's a 2 horse race between Daniel Butler and Dee Ryan as they will hoover up each others transfers and those from the greens. Of course this is all subjective but that's my prediction

As Leadin says himself , it will on come down to transfers. Because most people fill their slip all the way down giving a number to each candidate . i's quite possible he'll be elected. He'll poll high behind Mowran and O Tonnell.

Look closer at every other city. Limerick is no different. And there isn't litter and dog sht everywhere that's just more hyperbole.

Outside the city centre though there is a serious illegal dumping problem. Plenty of "salt of the earth" types dumping all over their own estates.

Other cities are very relevant.

Unless Limerick is some sort of bubble full of problems that no other city has which would be utter nonsense.

It's selling fairy tales to pretend Limerick won't have the same minor issues as other cities.

RTE have decided to host a debate between all candidates

https://x.com/HalloranCathy/status/1793607377775645028?t=KkgpOftqsL_WE3WyDVYwMQ&s=19

A debate with 14/15 candidates will be a bit of a shitshow unless they break them into smaller groups like the one the other night which was a good idea I thought. Does mean you need to spend more time to hear everyone which is really only for the hard core political nerds however. A 'public service' type website with 10 questions and a 1 minute video answer from each candidate would do me.

I hope it's a laugh cos if not I'd seriously question what's going on in his head.

Did I endorse her or just counter your unwarranted criticism of her opinion of the cleanliness of Limerick? You don't need to take her word for it either, IBAL deemed it the most littered city centre in Ireland

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/limerick/news/limerick-judged-the-most-littered-city-centre-in-ireland-in-2023-ibal-report/a1206741557.html

Just because you don't like it doesn't make it untrue. At least she is calling out something that is fixable and will make a difference straight away if a plan is implemented.

I'd much rather the mayor's budget is spent on power hoses than gaming museums.

I honestly don't think it's a laugh. He has some serious issues going on in that head and I'd say it's about time some of his family stepped in and had a word with him.

I blame society rather than the lack of bins - I saw a few youths eating a takeaway while sitting in their car on O'Callaghan Strand recently, on my return walk they had abandoned their litter on the roadside and kerbside of their car, even though there were 2 bins within a few meters of their car. You see people walking out of shops and opening whatever purchase (generally a vape wrapping) they've made and dropping their litter rather than dispose of it in the bin inside the store or carry it to a nearby bin.

It's definitely down to people. If you can carry the can of coke or bag of chips while you are consuming it then you can carry the empty package as far as a bin.

So homes without water or wastewater connections? That doesn't sound like the best idea