Mayor gets death threats over Christmas plans

MAYOR John Moran, who has received death threats over proposed Christmas road closures in the city, came under further fire from elected...

MAYOR John Moran, who has received death threats over proposed Christmas road closures in the city, came under further fire from elected members of Limerick Council this week.

The executive mayor told councillors at their October Metropolitan District meeting that he has been in contact with the relevant authorities, including An Garda Síochána, in relation to a range of recent abusive commentary on social media.

This revelation came after serious concerns were raised in the Merchants Quay chamber, over Mayor Moran’s perceived “obsession” with closing The Crescent on O’Connell Avenue for events.

Fine Gael councillor Dan McSweeney warned the council executive that there were elements of Christmas in Limerick 2026 that he would not be supporting when they come looking for an event licence to be approved by council members at their plenary meeting next month.

“I’m sorry, it’s the Mayor’s head, or whoever’s head it wants to rest on, but it won’t be mine because I am doing my part in relation to the reserve functions. There has been commentary around the closure of the Crescent, and my position is very clear, in that it won’t change. Somebody or some arm of this organisation has an absolute obsession in closing the Crescent,” Cllr McSweeney told the this week’s meeting.

Fianna Fail councillor Catherine Slattery, who declared that she too would be standing with city traders against the road closure on O’Connell Avenue, revealed that she had also been subject to abuse on social media for taking this stance.

“There is plenty of places in Limerick that a market can be put – Bedford Row, Thomas Street, Cruises Street. As I said, I’m willing to stand by the traders again. And if it means being lambasted online by these anonymous Facebook pages and the whole lot saying disgusting horrible things about me and my family, well then, so be it. Limerick means a lot to me, and if it means standing up for people that don’t have a voice because of one person’s ego to close off a road for for six weeks, I will be doing that,” Cllr Slattery declared.

Cllr Peter Doyle (FG) was of the opinion that the proposed closure of The Crescent, where Mayor Moran owns two properties, was a “backwards” step. He expressed his opposition to this proposal.

“The business people around Pery Square and in The Crescent are going to be inconvenienced, to put it lightly. One lady wrote to me, and she says the closure for 24 hours, seven days a week, for six weeks is ‘excessive’. She’s trying to run a business in Pery Square,” Cllr Doyle explained.

The City East representative went onto say that he had consulted with Limerick Tutorial Centre and other businesses in the area on the matter.

“Business people are not pleased. We can’t ride roughshod over the ratepayers and the business people in Limerick who are providing employment and services to people, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re riding roughshod, and we’re not listening.

“I can suggest here a simple solution to this. Put that Christmas market down in Howley’s Quay, Honan’s Quay, running to Arthur’s Quay – close the road there. It won’t damage business and it won’t disrupt the traffic. Don’t ride roughshod over the business people in Pery Square and the Crescent,” he insisted.

Labour Party councillor Joe Leddin implored Mayor Moran to listen to reason and suggested a “bigger and bolder step” from Limerick’s first citizen.

“This is where we need the Mayor to show a bit of leadership. I think we need to be looking at the full pedestrianisation of Catherine Street. Create that hub flowing onto Thomas Street and not be tinkering around the edges,” Cllr Leddin pleaded.

“I absolutely agree with the frustration of the traders in relation to this planned closure of the Crescent. It’s semi-detached from the core area of the city in terms of retail and hospitality – it’s a business district. I don’t know what the fixation with the Crescent is,” he added.

According to Mayor Moran, creating a spine up the middle of Georgian Limerick, will give them a chance at making the city much more vibrant. Research, he said, shows that you need something at either end of the city environs to give people the opportunity to traverse backwards and forwards between both points.

“Now, it has been suggested that the Crescent is too far away from the front door of Brown Thomas. I would hazard a guess that the Crescent, which is in full view of Brown Thomas, is actually not any further than the front door of the Castle (King John’s),” he opined.

Responding to Cllr Slattery’s claims of attacks on social media, Mayor Moran told council members that he too has had to deal with “attacks online” in the past week. The Mayor condemned alleged death threats and abusive comments of a homophobic and explicit nature.

Vile and derogatory abuse directed at Mayor Moran on social media included “flaming plank”, “a droopy eye w****r”, with his supporters referred to as “b*m boy fans”. “He’s a cyclops bastard wasting our money shoot the f*g,” read another comment.