Rebuilding a City: Boundary Commission issues recommendations on City boundary
The boundary commission charged with making a recommendation based on the previous recommendation by the Fitzgerald Report have suggested (I’m not using the word recommendation again in this post) that everything in County Limerick between the Shannon River and the Clare border be transferred to Limerick City Council.
The commission received 12 submissions from the public, all but one called for a boundary extension.
The report can be read here (PDF Format)
All that is needed now secure a proper boundary extension for the south side of the city.
The only reaction I have to hand at the minute is Maurice Quinlivan, who has been calling for Moyross to be moved into the city for at least the last two years. I will add other reaction as I find it
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome today’s recommendation by the boundary Committee to formally recommend that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley, TD, “proceed with a boundary alteration” encompassing all the land area of Limerick County North of the River Shannon. This will be a long overdue and very welcome extension of Limerick City. Sinn Féin has long called for action to be taken to ensure the whole of that area should be included in Limerick City. In Moyross for instance the present situation, where several hundred homes are owned by Limerick City Council but nevertheless fall within the area of County Limerick is patently absurd and needs to be ended. Similarly the situation in Woodview where the estate was divided along one street was bizarre. However now that the committee has recommended the ending of that situation, I hope the Minister will act to bring the matter to a swift conclusion and quickly grant the necessary extension.
I am very pleased that the committee agreed with the submission I made on behalf of Sinn Féin and that all the land area North of the river Shannon will be brought into the City. A key recommendation of the John Fitzgerald report was a boundary extension and we are very pleased that progress can now be made on the issue. The extension is essential for the success of the regeneration of parts of Limerick City, Moyross in particular. This regeneration will ultimately benefit the whole of the City and it is imperative that this boundary extension is granted quickly. Whilst today’s announcement concurs with the recommendation in the John Fitzgerald report and is very welcome it only addresses one aspect of the boundary extension required by Limerick City. We must now have a rational discussion between Limerick City and County Councils regarding the Southern and Western suburbs of the City. Limerick City has been strangled by the failure thus far to have a boundary extension. This discussion needs to take place. I would urge all parties to support the holding of this discussion”
From Trish Brennan of the Green Party in Limerick
I welcome the conclusion of the report and I now call on my party colleague John Gormley to forward the legislative changes necessitated by the report recommendations. I would also like to take this opportunity to ask the Minister to prioritise, in terms of financial support from central government, the mid west region in general and Limerick city and county in particular. In the last year, the area has been hit with the loss of Aer Lingus’s Heathrow routes and a steady stream of job losses. I know that the Minister is committed to ensuring that the Limerick region will recover and grow stronger. The implementation of the report’s recommendations will be an important step towards this
Minister Gormley intends to put forward the findings of the Commission’s report. These findings have to be approved by both the Dail and the Seannad before they can be implemented.