Join us for a public debate with Limerick City General Election candidates as they tackle the big issues shaping our city’s future.
The upcoming debate promises to tackle some of the most pressing issues facing Limerick City as candidates vie for four available seats in a highly competitive race. Topics will include ongoing challenges at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), the demand for social and affordable housing, the rising cost of living, city-centre policing, and Limerick’s high commercial vacancy rates.
Moderated by Dr. Kathryn Hayes, Course Director of the BA Journalism and Digital Communication program, the discussion aims to provide valuable insights into the candidates’ plans for the future of Limerick.
LIVE BLOG:
02:35 pm
Kathryn Hayes thanks the panel and the members of the audience, reminding everyone to vote on Friday the 29th of November.
02:34 pm
Kathryn Hayes reiterates the importance of the candidates that attended today. She echoes the disappointment felt that no FG representatives showed up.
02:31 pm
Conor Sheehan wants to create and “build a city where there is a floor that no person can fall beneath”.
If you’re not at the table you’re on the menu and our generation has been on the menu for far too long. I hope you might consider me as the voice.
Elise O’Donovan says she has been very active in women’s rights and equality. “We currently have no women representing Limerick at a national level as she voices that that must change.”
02:29 pm
Melanie Sheehan says Politics was not her first calling, but that she “has settled into it”.
“I’m a campaigner for the people of Limerick”, she states, driven through the death of her daughter, to take matters into her own hands and run for election.
Dee Ryan, feels that Limerick has been underrepresented in ongoing issues such as healthcare and housing, which has led her to become a politician: “I’m here because Limerick needs a strong voice in government”.
02:27 pm
Paul Gavan touches on his passion for progressively improving Ireland with Sinn Fein and was also the first member to speak on the conflict in Gaza, saying action needs to be taken, in particular to the issues in Shannon Airport
There are far too many people in the midwest who are silent in these issues and the American air force stationed in Shannon airport
02:22 pm
Dean Lilis mentions that he was a student representative at UL, and worked to advocate for the rights of students, specifically those who were disabled, implementing wheelchair-friendly policies on campus. As he did so, he became a spokesperson for the public.
Ruari Fahy, says what drives him to become a leader is the obvious inequality in Ireland between the wealthy and the poor.
02:21 pm
To conclude the debate, each candidate is asked why they went into the political field.
02:19 pm
Melanie Sheehan responds to the recent claim to voters from Simon Harris not to vote for independents if they don’t want a three-party coalition:
“I think he’s wrong, you should vote for independents. We have no party behind us. What I do comes directly from the public and the people”, as she emphasises that they aren’t abiding by specific policies.
02:19 pm
Conor Sheehan joins into the conversation and says that Limerick has come so far in the last few years and that it can´t go backwards.
“There’s a recruitment crisis there. We want to get Gardai numbers up to at least 17,000, as it stands at 13,000 the lowest it has been in years,” he mentions. These numbers are related to nationwide employed Gardai.
02:16 pm
“I know Garryowen well”, says Paul Gavan. In his opinion, the key issue is that there are too few guards. He states that the successive gov FF and FG have failed significantly in increasing Guardai numbers.
Kathryn Hayes begs the question of how the candidate wants to improve workers’ rights and working conditions for guards.
“We need to give Gardai more protection, as it is a much harder issue now than what it once was”, Senator Gavan says,
We have a drug epidemic in our city.
02:14 pm
Kathryn Hayes moves the debate onto the issue of Crime and the rejuvenation of Limerick City.
1st year journalism student raises a question. She mentions growing up in Garryowen, a big area in relation to crime. “Anything can happen,” she says and notes that there are no guards in that area.
Her question: “What will you do about Gardai protection in these areas?”
02:11 pm
Conor Sheehan says that Dee is talking about housing as if she’s not standing on a ticket with Willy O’Dea. He states that FF and FG control the council, and have since 2014.
02:09 pm
Dean Lillis, Independent, joins the discussion. He mentions that he wants to see the 14.4 billion from the Apple tax used to build homes and houses for the people of Ireland. He says he personally is one of thousands still living at home with his parents at 33 years of age.
“We need to go back to direct state building,” he adds.
02:07 pm
Dee Ryan chimes in saying there is no lack of money in this area, it’s about executing this housing plan. “We need to be building far more, we need approx 300,000 homes in the next 5 years,” she adds,
“If we continue with the growth rate we are on, we will reach the 60,000 mark per annum.”
02:05 pm
Elisa O’Donovan says the social democrats outline what they want to do for renters. She says a lack of responsibility is being taken from the other parties.
She wants to introduce a three-year rent freeze. “The rent control areas are not working, and rent is constantly being increased.
If the landlord increases the rent, we need a register, so renters can log this and flag this,” she says.
We are going to ban sex for rent. This is happening in Limerick City,” she further states.
02:01 pm
Kathryn emphasises that many students here today are renting in Limerick, and are facing issues.
Holly O’Sullivan, a fourth-year journalism student, asks the candidates about rent control and how landlords are treating tenets, as she speaks about her personal experience while renting in Limerick.
01:59 pm
Melanie calls back to this request, agreeing with the statement.
Dee Ryan, following this, talks about the ongoing progress in Limerick housing with 3000 houses being built in the past two years.
“I don’t think it´s accurate to say that we haven´t been making progress,“ says the FF candidate.
01:56 pm
“How many of you or are any of you willing to declare publicly that housing is a national emergency?” a member of the audience asks all the attending candidates: “We are going to pay so much in mental health, in people’s lives, because of this housing crisis.”
01:55 pm
Conor Sheehan addresses housing, “Labour wants to set aside 6 billion to set up a state construction company to meet the needs of our citizens,” he says.
“Most people sitting here in the audience haven’t a hope in hell,” Mr Sheehan says in relation to the future of homebuyers for the next generation.
01:52 pm
Paul Gavan, who takes over, criticises that the People Before Profit policies will take too long, and these matters need to be addressed immediately.
01:50 pm
People Before Profit candidate, Ruairi Fahy, approaches this question, saying that we need to make this an attractive career in Ireland. “We need to have guaranteed long-term contracts for construction workers, and ensure ongoing training to make this appealing for workers”.
01:48 pm
Kathryn moves the debate onto the issue of Housing.
“Housing is an issue, retrofitting housing is also an issue,” a member of the audience states, “Where do we get the construction workers to build these houses? How do we attract these construction workers?”
01:47 pm
The Social Democrat candidate Elisa O’Donovan says that training programmes need to be improved and developed in the MidWest and in Ireland.
She also states that every person who graduates from UL in a healthcare role should go into a well-paid job within their field. She says she has seen first-hand that these graduates cannot find employment.
01:45 pm
“The cause of the issues in our healthcare system is down to Fianna Fail and Fianna Gael”, says independent candidate Dean Lillis.
He further continues to emphasise the importance of the reopening of the EDs in Ennis, St. Johns and Neenagh.
01:43 pm
Mr Fahy from People Before Profit claims there has been an infrastructure put in place on the basis of who can pay for healthcare, rather than who really needs it.
“We need to also ensure that there’s adequate housing for these nurses and doctors who are working in these hospitals,” he says.
01:41 pm
I have never once heard you stand up and talk about UHL, Ms Sheehan interrupts Ms Ryan FF candidate.
I’m much more than a grieving mother, I have a brain!
says Melanie, as she requests to be treated like all of the other candidates.
01:40 pm
Dee Ryan, acknowledges Limerick has been poorly served on the issues in UHL. She argues Paul’s prior statement in the debate that nothing has changed in regard to healthcare since 2020.
“You haven’t been listening to Dee” Senator Gavan responds as the debate shortly shifts towards a more heated and chaotic exchange of opinions.
01:37 pm
Conor Sheehan, from Labour, takes over, emphasizing that recruitment for healthcare workers is to be taken as a number one priority, to increase staffing numbers in the Midwest and in Ireland.
01:34 pm
Paul Gavan touches on how Sinn Fein is very clear that Limerick needs a second ED. However, he acknowledges that “it would take years for this to take place”.
He says the first thing that would be done is to lift the recruitment embargo in Ireland. He references that health minister Stephen Donnelly has not acknowledged the bed shortage in his recent interview. He emphasises the need to ensure that good resources are in place, as “we have been playing catch up for 15 years”.
01:30 pm
Anne Marie Roberts, asks Paul Gavan about Sinn Fein´s plan to open a second ER and what immediate plans are there until the second ER would be established.
01:29 pm
“Nothing has changed since the death of my daughter Eve in 2019,” says Ms Sheehan.
“You don’t see accountability” she says in relation to the improvement of the healthcare services in Limerick City and the surrounding areas.
She emphasises that the healthcare workers in UHL are not to be blamed for these problems, but the government is.
01:27 pm
Kathryn turns to Melanie Sheehan, with the Midwest Hospital Campaign, to ask her about the ongoing issues surrounding overcrowding in UHL.
01:26 pm
Dee Ryan, from Fianna Fail, takes over from the Social Democrat candidate, as she acknowledges the ongoing delays in dental appointments. “We are seeing increased numbers in regards to dental graduates nationally. We have pledged to increase that number and increase training” she states.
01:24 pm
Councillor Elisa O’Donovan takes the question, “I can tell you that this is such a neglected part of the healthcare system”. “It´s the most neglected part of the health service”, says O’Donovan.
Councillor O’Donovan states that dentists in the Midwest have no regional training facilities. This is a consistent issue in Ireland. She states that the first thing her party plans to do would be to bring back regional dental training programmes that were shut down in 2009.
01:21 pm
Josh Kelly first-year Journalism student, asks the question about the issues surrounding dental care with children, as he speaks about his brother who had to wait seven years to undergo specific dental surgery.
01:20 pm
Starting with Health, Kathyrn Hayes introduces the first debate topic.
01:19 pm
Kathryn Hayes will be the moderator of this debate, as she takes over from Ferghal Quinn. She welcomes the Limerick Leader and Live95, the Limerick publications here today.
01:17 pm
The debate will include various topics: Health, Housing, Cost of Living and the Regeneration of Limerick City. Each topic will be led by questions from the floor, which were agreed upon with the moderator before the debate.
01:15 pm
Ferghal Quinn, head of the Journalism department at UL welcomes the panel and all those attending today.
He notes that not all Limerick City candidates are present today, specifically none of the serving TDs.
01:07 pm
We are joined by the following candidates:
- Melanie Cleary, Independent and the Mid West Hospital Campaign
- Ruairi Fahy of People Before Profit
- Senator Paul Gavan of Sinn Fein
- Dean Lillis, Independent
- Cllr Elisa O’Donovan representing the Social Democrats
- Dee Ryan representing Fianna Fail
- Cllr Conor Sheehan representing the Labour Party
And we are live on our Social Media!
12:58 pm
The debate will commence shortly. The room is filling up with both students and lecturers. Six of the seven candidates are already sitting in their seats. We will be live on our social media platforms in a couple of moments.
12:50 pm
The last preparations are happening in the lecture hall in the Bernal Institute. The first candidates already arrived, taking their seats on the table.