MEMBERS OF Clare County Council have declared “not an inch” to Government moves to extend the Limerick city boundary into Clare.
Last February, Minister for the Environment John Gormley established a Limerick Local Government Committee to make recommendations on the most appropriate local government arrangements for Limerick.
Part of the committee’s terms of reference includes whether the Limerick County Council and the City Council of Limerick should be unified or whether there should be an adjustment between the boundary of Co Clare and Limerick city or county.
The chairman of the committee is Denis Brosnan, who is also chairman of the Government-established Midwest Regional Task Force.
However, at a special meeting of Clare County Council yesterday to formulate the council response, Cathal Crowe (Fianna Fáil) said: “I don’t have any faith in Limerick City Council to administer any part of Clare.
“What they are proposing in relation to Clare is a waste of time,” he added. “All the city council sees are the dollar signs by taking over the likes of Raheen and Dooradoyle in the Limerick county area.”
Mr Crowe said that Limerick City Council “is pathetic and going nowhere. They should not be allowed to take an inch.”
This was echoed by James Breen (Ind) who said: “I support that we should not give an inch.”
Joe Arkins (Fine Gael) said the “not an inch” part of the council’s response should form a very small part of its comprehensive response to the boundary committee.
Mr Arkins added that it was Limerick City Council that ghettoised social housing in Limerick, where 44 per cent of all housing was social housing.
Patricia McCarthy (Ind) told the meeting that the city council had not lost the siege mentality that was there since Patrick Sarsfield.
She said that the belief that changing the Limerick boundary would address the city’s problems was very simplistic.
PJ Kelly (Fianna Fáil) said the reason behind the proposed boundary extension was the financial misadventure and financial failure of Limerick City Council.
However, Brian Meaney (Green Party) said the region needed a strong midwest and a vibrant Limerick and that the emotive use of language of “not an inch” would not save any jobs in the area.
The council agreed that it would hold a second special meeting on the issue on Thursday to finalise its response.
