Summer in the City brings a month of ’contradictions’

LIMERICK traders deemed August in Limerick City a month of "contradictions" as the fun-filled Summer in the City programme draws to a close.

LIMERICK traders deemed August in Limerick City a month of “contradictions” as the fun-filled Summer in the City programme draws to a close.

Speaking to the Limerick Post , one local business owner, who asked not to be named, praised many of the events delivered by Limerick City and County Council, including the Ultimate Frisbee World Championships, the European Sport for All Games, and the All-Ireland Skateboard Championships at Mount Kennett Skatepark.

One element of the summer programme which has sparked debate from all sides of the fence – from both avid supporters and detractors – was the urban beach at Steamboat Quay. Many welcomed the Shannonside sand installation with open arms, however the city trader raised health concerns over the possibility of the sand at the temporary urban beach attracting rodents and other activities.

“I would happily endorse deck chairs, a full boardwalk area, and maybe extend it for June, July, and August, all the way up to where the now closed house unit is. Just the sand element, I would worry, could be a potential health hazard,” the city trader suggested.

Local businesses, who had called on the Mayor to reverse planned road closures for his Summer in the City initiative this month, especially at The Crescent on O’Connell Street, deemed this element of the programme as “mystifying”.

“This makes absolutely no logical sense in my mind. This event area would have been better off transferred into the People’s Park altogether. We saw with the closure ambulances, and busses being delayed constantly,” the local trader said.

“I witnessed myself an ambulance being held for 10 minutes, while people reversed a truck, a bus, and many cars to get the ambulance around the corner onto Henry Street. Simply there was not enough room to turn the busses and the trucks coming the other way at the same point. It was a pinch point.”

The Limerick City Traders Association member also hit out that there was “nothing happening” on The Crescent for the “vast majority” of the month. But this was the least of his concerns.

“Whether there were activities there or not, it is absolutely illogical to block the main thoroughfare into town. The critical point is very clear and was made clear in the Irish Times article, showing that 74 per cent of all journeys remain by car in the whole country. This is also true of Limerick. So blocking people coming into town from Raheen obviously is not going to help the city’s retail future, which is already desperately in trouble.”

City traders have again reiterated the need for a national body to look at a retail strategy for the city.

“It absolutely needs to be national, as we need the financial clout of the Government to help reverse the catastrophic fall-off in footfall and trade in the city centre.”

When asked for comment, Social Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan took the view that more use should be made of the city’s quays and to turn the focus towards the riverfront for more summer activities.

“We have the Shannon running through the heart of our city, and I don’t think we have come close to realising its potential as a public space.

“Next summer, I’d love to see more events and activities focused along the quays, with an extended boardwalk, seating, and deckchairs throughout June, July, and August.

“As a founder of Swimmable Limerick, I also think we should be much more ambitious about our relationship with the river itself — focusing on improving water quality with the ultimate goal of getting people safely swimming in the Shannon in the city centre,” Cllr O’Donovan commented.

“If we’re not at that point yet, I’d like us to explore a pop-up outdoor pool on the riverfront as an interim option. We could create a fantastic summer destination along the quays without having to close one of the principal routes into the city.

“Limerick has spent long enough turning its back on the Shannon. I want us to turn towards it — for recreation, events, public space and, ultimately, swimming,” the City West representative added.

According to Mayor John Moran, Limerick doesn’t need a new taskforce. He maintains that it already elected one, in June 2024, when the people of Limerick voted for a new Council and, for the first time, a directly-elected mayor with a mandate to break from the old way of doing things and get the city moving.

“That mandate is embodied by the mayoral programme, More for Limerick; we’re two years into delivering it, and a taskforce would only send us back to square one. Look at what we’ve already achieved: the Limerick Gift Card; Twilight Thursdays; our biggest Summer in the City yet, bringing the World Championship Frisbee Festival, the EU Sport for All Games, the Irish Skateboard Championships, dozens of concerts, the Arthur’s Quay funpark and community events across the city — much of which has been praised by traders themselves.”

Mayor Moran continued: “We have enough plans. What we need now is to keep going with relentless delivery on what we’ve already built in the first two years. I won’t back calls to slow things down with another layer of red tape when Limerick is already doing the work. We have three years left to get as much done as possible before the next election. The door is always open for the Traders’ Association to play a more active role and back its proposals with the same investment and commitment it is seeking from Government — just as many other traders and business leaders across the city already do every week.”