Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Then there is the old Krups factory. The work that is going on there with Eimear Brophy, Paul Patton, and other such people, is just unbelievable. As a politician in Limerick, I know the Minister of State used to push various projects himself. He was quite a strong voice in Limerick Senior College back in the day when I was there, as were some of this colleagues. I would not like to take away from all his colleagues who work in Limerick. It strikes me that a political influence in regeneration is extremely important. I see Members of this House making cases every day to try to drive local initiatives. A mayor with executive power, where the buck stops with him or her, with the responsibility, if one likes, for regeneration, makes tremendous sense to me. I fully support what my colleague Senator Boyhan says. I also know that many members of the Minister of State's own party who are on the council in Limerick, and councillors from various other parties and none – including the Independent people who have a very strong voice down there - would want their mayor to be taking a leading role. There is a lot of work still to be done in Limerick, but let us give it to those who have done it.

I would like to think that the mayor would be working hand in hand with the education and training board down there as well, and with the Technological University of the Shannon and the University of Limerick. The one thing I can say from my time in Limerick is that from an educational point of view, it was always a leader in the field. I see a tremendous opportunity here for the first directly elected mayor in the country to make his or her mark, going forward, setting the bar for future directly elected mayors around the country. It would be a great opportunity for Limerick to lead out once again, because it has led on many things in its time.