Ursula Gavan strikes a meaningful pose in Castleconnell

I ARRIVED out to the picturesque village of Castleconnell to meet Independent councillor Ursula Gavan recently to the realisation...

I ARRIVED out to the picturesque village of Castleconnell to meet Independent councillor Ursula Gavan recently to the realisation that I hadn’t been out in this stunning neck of County Limerick since I was a boy scout.

These days, only a heartbeat from the city, this picture postcard little hamlet on the banks of the River Shannon is like the radiant stuff of Constable and Turner’s naturalistic landscape paintings. It’s a slice of heaven and, as I pause to get a selfie at the statue of local hurling legend Mick Mackey, I give myself a stern talking to for leaving it so long to have stopped by.

Only a short spin out from the city, this prolonged mishap, I tell myself, will have to be corrected. At that, an intensely hued Cllr Gavan arrives wearing a stylish ensemble complete with a red keffiyeh, maroon blazer, funky blue handbag, and a shiny yellow pair of Mary Janes. The style is turned up to 11, and she means serious business with it.

A ray of technicoloured sunshine, who clearly missed the weather forecast, Ursula would look right at home on the set of The Devil Wears Prada . She comes off like Limerick City and County Council’s answer to Miranda Priestly. Dressed to kill and determined to get results, she packs as much vitality and passion as the immortalised Mick Mackey, still pucking it out up on Castle Street in bronze.

Castleconnell, she claims, has been forgotten, and isn’t turning any heads in the local authority when it comes to the unfashionable subject of investing in the future of her local community. This is something she now wants to put in vogue, and transport is right at the very top of her nifty agenda.

Cllr Gavan maintains that BusConnects, which was meant to transform public transport, has instead left people still waiting on infrequent, unreliable services. She also believes that there’s a need for additional daytime rail services on the Castleconnell/Annacotty line to enable more commuters switch from car to rail.

“My young fella was going into work this morning and he missed the bus at 10am and that’s it then until 1pm. Sure, you could say, he could get on an e-scooter, but they’re thinking of banning those – which I think is a joke – and now they’re increasing the fares so people don’t have an option.

“We don’t have the service. BusConnects was supposed to come in from 2028. To be honest, I don’t see that coming in. Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien is saying there isn’t the funds for it. I think the funds for the increase will balance out to bring in new services but we haven’t guaranteed that. It’s well and good for Willie O’Dea and Kieran O’Donnell to say we shouldn’t have these increases, but they’re in Government,” she fumes.

The City East representative, elected to the Council for the first time in 2024, says that bottom line, they need more buses in Castleconnell and extra trains so people can get in and out of the city for work, study, and play.

“We’re less than 10 minutes from the university, and that’s even less than 10kms, and we have a huge student population. So trying to get in, you have to have a car. We really need an on-the-hour bus to meet the demand,” she says.

“I live beside the train track, and that’s even worse than the buses. We have a train at 7.30am, another around 10am, again about 5pm, and the last one at 8.30pm. Life isn’t nine-to-five anymore. We have no joined up thinking on transport, and Dublin has no interest in us,” Cllr Gavan opines.

As we make our way down towards the playground on the banks of the Shannon, one of the snappy councillor’s favourite beauty spots locally, she turns her attention to another huge issue in Castleconnell.

As she does, the heavens open, and the eye-catching ruby jacket isn’t going to keep the rain off, so we dash for shelter at the entrance to the local SuperValu. It’s here she confesses to the Limerick Post that a lack of Gardaí is another bee in her very jazzy bonnet – if she had a bonnet!

“We have a Garda station here that serves Montpelier, which is right beside O’Brien’s Bridge, all the way into the Groody Roundabout. We would have seven guards on rota but it is a bit hit and miss, but better than what it was. The guards we have are very good and doing their best but they can’t manage if they have to deal with from here into Castletroy. They just don’t have the manpower.

“I have even stopped calling for a Garda Station in Castletroy because apparently they can’t find a site. So instead, they need now to put the bodies on the ground. Put them here. Base them in Roxboro. Base them in Henry Street, as their office, but put them on the beat out here,” she suggests.

With a break in the rain, we head for the majesty of the River Shannon and the jewel in Castleconnell’s crown, which Cllr Gavan is rightfully very proud to show off. Ursula and her husband, former senator Paul Gavan, are blessed to have called this sleepy suburb, with its breathtaking vistas, home for the past 25 years with their three children.

As I quickly get lost in the magnificent scenery before me, Ursula turns my attention back to the village’s playground which is in bad need of a makeover. A chic operator, she’s certainly the right woman to see these works get over the line.

“This is definitely the most scenic playground in Ireland but it hasn’t seen love in a long time. It’s not conducive for the kids and no longer suits their needs. We have three crèches here in the village and you could have at least 300 plus kids, so they can’t fit in here.

“The new playground is coming, it’s gone out to tender, and it will come, but there needs to be a space here for teenagers as well. They are not all miserable and negative, they just want to hang out and chat and mooch about, and what better spot to do it,” she justly concludes.

Cllr Ursula Gavan makes a lot of sense, and as a wise fella once said: “Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly.”