John Gilligan elected Limerick’s next mayor

Some very unfair comments about Kevin Kiely. He would have made a good mayor but Labour in Limerick are a shambles and broke their agreement with Fine Gael. Mayor Fahy was excellent and was very strong on the Shannon issue. Pity our two fianna fail cronies did not come out in support of the Shannon stopover. Shame on Willie O' Dea and Peter Power. Shame

Cllr. Scully, you should look at your own loyalty issues from 3 years ago when received support from the very same councillors that elected Mayor Gilligan.
As for Kevin Kiely, he actually believed he could bully his way to been Mayor, but thankfully, just like Gus O'Driscoll done many years ago, they realised he would be an embarrassment to the Mayoral office.

dont know if john will make a good mayor but as john would say anytime you wud need him to do anything the only words ud get are..... leave it with me

Congrats to Mayor Gilligan on his election. City Hall will get a good shake up in the coming year and rightly so. As an independant he will not be bogged down by party policy from Dublin.
A true man of the people who has always worked hard for the city he loves and will do us all proud.

Bock the Robber ...."It makes no difference who wears the chain. They’ll still be the worst bunch of local representatives in Ireland."

So in the same vein in which you replied top Curley Wurly :-)

I have no idea whether they are the worst local representatives in Ireland or not. It would be interesting to know what studies you are quoting for your claim above?

"what have you got against someone having a few bob in the bank."

Absolutely nothing against it whatsoever, but not being made mayor isn't exactly a Shakespearean tragedy, he'll get over it.

Curly Wurly: "His money?"

I have no idea whether he has any money or not. It would be interesting to know how you got access to his accounts.

That is not necessarily true, I can think of loads of people with money who are in pain,

Besides, what have you got against someone having a few bob in the bank.

"I can well appreciate the pain he is feeling and can only hope that he will get the opportunity to serve as mayor of our city in the very near future"

He can serve us by doing the job he is supposed to do on the police board. Pain isn't felt by people with his money.

Well done John. I remember when he was going around turning on the water after the council turned it off during the water tax protests back in the 80s . He did this all over the city not just in his local ward and I am sure he will be a great Mayor and serve the whole city to the best of his ability which has never being lacking yet. A good solid honest man. And as for the fella who lost out he would not be fit to shine Mayor Gilligan,s shoes.

Whoopy!
It's not like Mayors do anything anyway.
Well, besides opening new community centres and unveiling park benches.
It's not like things are gonna change for the better or worse.

good man john gilligan

It's true that the function of mayor is largely ceremonial. On the other hand it's also true to say that the mayor also has a range of powers that aren't used much. One of these powers includes bringing forward an item not listed on the agenda for discussion and vote at a council meeting. The mayor also has the ear of the press. A smart mayor would use both these powers in conjunction to force wayward councillors to vote morally on publically sensitive issues.

Anyone wanna bet that Mr Gilligan will use these powers often?

He's been very vocal in the past but hasn't had the power to loft his concerns before the council and a vote. Every dog has his day, and John has his now, it just remains to be seen if he'll be sending other dogs to the pound to be put out of our misery (metaphorically speaking).

@raggedtrousers

I suppose he or she travels to functions representing the place he or she is mayor of.I think the public should be allowed elect the mayor.

It makes no difference who wears the chain. They'll still be the worst bunch of local representatives in Ireland.

hey Rhebogue Ranter, are you now realizing this is not a republic?
sure while the city is being regenerated why not the council, hope the pay won't be as ridicuous as the post in Cork.

apart from the march 17 gig, turning on christmas lights, shaking babies and kissing hands what does a mayor do? isn't there a city manager?

Councillor Diarmuid Scully

"Some strong views have been expressed about Kevin Kiely. I’m not going to debate those"

........you have chosen to ignored my invitation to comment on Kevin Kielys performance as chairman of the Limerick joint police authority :-)

I leave readers to draw their own conclusion.

Quioting Diarmuid Scully:

"I am extremely disappointed for my colleague Kevin Kiely who has now been denied the mayoralty on two occasions when people who appeared to have pledged their support to him withdrew it at the last moment."

I wonder why on earth??

Well done again John

As the regular posters on this site will know - I am not a regular poster. I think this is my fourth time doing so and it'll probably be a long while before th enext one.

This morning almost every media outlet that covered this story carried the false claim that John Ryan had broken his word. He didn't and I felt that needed to be put straight. I don't blame the Limerick blogger for this everyone from RTE to the Irish Times carried the same incorrect story - in my view the false story was planted.

With regard to our new Mayor. I believe his election is not only welcome, but long overdue. If the public chose the mayor, John Gilligan would have been elected long ago. There was a very real chance of John getting the position two years ago, but some of those who supported him last night, refused to do so then and the opportunity was lost. That injustice was put right last night, but as the Mayor himself said nothing in human life is ever black and white. Some strong views have been expressed about Kevin Kiely. I'm not going to debate those, but it is difficult for anyone to go through a situation where people have promised you support and then withdraw it at the last minute. That has now happened to him twice. The Mayor expressed his genuine sympathy for Kevin Kiely last night. I am doing the same.

Congrats, nice to see a man of substance getting the prize. The pass the parcel method of picking a Mayor is a joke. Best of luck with your year John.

I thought titles like Lord were not conferred on people as per our constitution.

Obviously Cllr. Scully, Mr Kiely is not liked by the people or by the majority of members on the council, and I would think all within good reason. He is incredibly self-obsessed and arrogant. Even if there was a so called pact in place, it was not enough to elect that man.
With 2 Fianna Fail, a Labour and 6 independent voices voting for Mayor Gilligan, it is clear to see that overall consensus was for a deserved politician AND person.

youghal exile/corkman, will you ever just shut up and stop embarassing yourself either on here or the proc.

@squid

The same as they are here?Lol

Hay yaughal Exile, how are they treating you on PROC

Tis great to see an honest man like john gilligan elected lord mayor.Oops i forget only proper cities like cork have lord mayors.Good luck to a real man of the people.

well done to john gilligan,truly deserves to be mayor.

I think its a joke Kiely was ever allowed to sit on the joint policing authority!!

Julio,

Leader website has been updated since I last looked at it.

Perhaps Councillor Diarmuid Scully would care to offer his assessment on the record of Kevin Kiely as chairman of Limerick's joint policing authority? It does not look too impressive from where I am standing.

Pat, what website are you reading?

JG is all over the Leader webpage, and rightly so

I have ammended the post to reflect that, thanks Diarmiuid.

It has been widely reported in the media this morning that the failure of Fine Gael to get our candidate Cllr Kevin Kiely elected Mayor of Limerick last night was a direct result of Cllr John Ryan of Labour breaking his pact with Fine Gael and crossing the floor to vote for the independent candidate Cllr John Gilligan.

This is not the case.

The Fine Gael Labour pact ended two years ago when the Labour party were unable to agree a candidate for the position of Mayor. With the permission of his then party leader Pat Rabbitte, one Labour councillor, Joe Leddin negotiated a new pact with the 6 FG and 2 FF members on the council. There is some dispute as to whether this pact was for two or three years. Fianna Fail maintain it was for two, Fine Gael believed we had an agreement for three years. It was this Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Joe Leddin pact which broke down last night, when the two FF members supported John Gilligan. Cllr John Ryan was not a party to this agreement. He did not break it and can not be held responsible for what happened.

I wish to congratulate John Gilligan on his election as Mayor. He has shown himself over the last 18 years to be one of the most outstanding public representatives that Limerick has ever produced and I have no doubt he will make a great mayor. I am extremely disappointed for my colleague Kevin Kiely who has now been denied the mayoralty on two occasions when people who appeared to have pledged their support to him withdrew it at the last moment. Having had a similar experience three years ago, I can well appreciate the pain he is feeling and can only hope that he will get the opportunity to serve as mayor of our city in the very near future

Fantastic, first I've heard of it.

Well done John - a Mayor for the People.

Well done John great to see a person ho really deserves the mayoralty get it for a change. Never thought Iwould see the day when I would be proud of something John Ryan did but what can I say but thanks John this time you have realy served your people.
John Gilligan is a man who will be mayor to all people of the city not just the privillaged. Mr Kiely is just self serving and his arrogance would have brought the role a touch of distaste

Sorry, I meant in relation to the Leader website's coverage of last nights election

"Is it a sign of sour grapes from the Leader that the newly elected Mayor is not quoted at all. while the comments of the defeated Kevin Kiely are prominently quoted on the website ?"

Well done John.

I see that the Limerick Leader have hastily changed their website this morning. Yesterday the Leader had an article about Kevin Kiely who the headline described as "The man expected to be named Mayor of Limerick" . This morning the headline has been changed to "Limerick Mayoral candidate "

However the actual article still referes to Mr Kiely as "The man expected to be named Mayor of Limerick"

This vote must come as a big disappointment to the Limerick Leader who for some time now have been working as the press office for Mr Kiely.

Is it a sign of sour grapes from the Leader that the newly elected Mayor is not quoted at all. while the comments of the defeated Kevin Kiely are prominently quoted on the website ?

Well done John Gilligan...Kiely was after it for glory, starkie your spot on with your description of Kiely.

Delighted for John. You just get the sense that he'll be a Mayor of action, and that the role will mean something to him. He'll be more active than Kiely ever would. Kiely was after the title for the prestige it would garner him in next year's elections. It took some political shenanigans but the City Council have elected the right Mayor.

Well done to John. Very positive thing for our wonderful City.

delighted. i was horrified to hear that kiely was tipped to get the job, he doesnt evensalute a lot of local people in his area. he is a self seeking man. not at all genuine . a real social climber. john gilligan is an articulate man very honest and really cares for people.

There'll be evils being exchanged at the next council meeting alright, although we won't have to wait too long for the recriminations, they will be on the 7am news in the morning! and all over the Chronicle by lunchtime.

Absolutely delighted Gilligan it was as expected as Andorra winning 2008. And if he is still around when directly elected mayors are introduced, he will get it again, provided he don't cock it up this time around.

I have a feeling though that he will not be as progressive a thinker as Scully was though.

Congratulations John, well deserved

Good to see democracy return to Limerick City Council, at least for some councillors.

Best of luck to John Gilligan, he should be a great mayor.

Congratulations John, on your election to be Mayor of Limerick. Aman I know all my life. A very honest down to earth fellow. One of our own.
Thank The Lord Kiely wasn't elected, down to earth alright, SCUM.

Daggers in the dark.

Delighted that John is the new mayor. Things'll get interesting now.

I see much upset in the council's near future. And I'm not psychic.

well done john gilligan, john ryan fair play

Absolutely great news for the working class, couldn't get a better man for the job, nice one.

conatulation gr to John I am shure he will make a great mayor for limerick he has worked hard for it