Limerick mayoral candidate to step down from Shannon Airport board

Nick Rabbitts, 27 Mar

A CANDIDATE to become Limerick's first directly elected mayor is to

step down from his roles with both Shannon Airport and the Limerick

Economic Forum.

John Moran, a former secretary general at the Department of Finance, is

contesting the maiden election on Friday, June 7, as an Independent

candidate.

He says he has stepped down from a number of other roles at local

organisations.

Mr Moran, who hails from Mungret, says he feels it's important to lead

by example, and show Limerick voters "early and emphatically" that

should he be elected, his office would not tolerate any conflict of

interest.

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"In a matter of weeks, Limerick will have the first directly elected

mayor in Ireland. We should show the rest of Ireland how this can work,

how it will work and how it must work if we are to understand and grasp

the opportunities that this historic reform gives us," he said.

"That has to start with visible and strict demarcation and greater

transparency in the areas of budget, contracts, lobbying and careful

control of who sits on different boards, especially when dealing with

organisations contracting with or in receipt of funds from the local

authority. As Secretary General of the Department of Finance, I

introduced new practices in this area to ensure greater transparency

and I shall be doing likewise if elected as mayor," confirmed Mr Moran.

Mr Moran said he has already advised the Minister for Transport and

informed the board of Shannon Airport at last week’s board meeting of

his decision and has stepped down from his role at the Limerick

Economic Forum.

He added also that the integrity of any potential future decision of

his to allocate local authority funds, is protected by the fact that he

has already stepped away from his board roles with local charities

benefiting from support from Limerick council, notably the UL

Foundation; Liveable Limerick; Narrative 4 and the Hunt Museum.