Directly Elected Mayor

it's so close to a general election that they can waive the 6 month rule

I'm fairly sure there is no circumstances whereby the 6 month rule can be waived

I was unaware that there was a regulation that permitted no B-E if close to a GE, only that they have to take place 6 months after a seat is vacated. How close does it have to be do you know?

I don't think Quinlivan, as a sitting TD, ought to even be allowed run in this election. If he wins what will he do - attempt to combine both roles ? It's either one or the other.

I saw that article myself, no clear definition of a "short time" so I'm assuming it means the 6 month rule

The next general election has no set date but has to take place on or before 22 March 2025 - 5 years and 24 days since the sitting of the last Dail.

As far as I am aware it will follow the council calendar so the DEM would take office from the 1st of June. To me this means that unless the GE date is brought back to the 1st of December or earlier there would have to be a bye-election to satisfy the 6 month rule

Open to correction but that's my calculations

Yes, if Maurice Quinlivan is elected as Mayor of Limerick he will resign as a TD. He could also, in theory, after winning the vote, refuse to take the office of mayor and continue as a TD but this is highly unlikely. The same would be true for Brian Leddin

I presume that in the case of a DEM resigning or dying while in office that it reverts to a list or a party decision to replace him/her but that info is hard to find

Frankie Daly has joined the race as an independent. I think that's 13 candidates now for DEM.

My thoughts below. Please do feel free to correct or comment critically.

Please note that I am not endorsing any candidate. Neither would I know them personally.

The electorate of this municipality has been tasked with selecting a "chief executive" for an organisation with about 1,500 employees and a budget (including national HAP payments) of €950,000,000+.

In private industry, you can be sure that the selection of a chief executive for an organisation of comparable size would involve exhaustive checks on the competency of each candidate (i.e. each candidate's training, knowledge and experience).

However the DEM selection process is going to be a popularity-based lottery where some electors will choose based on party loyalty, personal loyalty or because they want to protest against the government etc.

So, competency will hardly be a consideration for most voters.

As far as I can tell, and please correct me if I am wrong, only J. Moran or H. O'Donnell would have experience in running an organisation or business and would have contacts in civic or national circles, perhaps less so with H. O'Donnell. So if I was recruiting for the CE of a similarly sized private company, I would shortlist both for interview. I can't see who else I would shortlist.

In terms of political affiliation, I know that anyone is free to stand for election but I don't think that having a DEM nominated by a political party is a good idea.

Such a candidate, if elected, would be required to toe the party line, particularly if there was a conflict between party policy and what a DEM wanted.

Moreover, a DEM from an opposition party would not have the same access to, or support from the government of the day. There is an election coming in the next ten months. Does any of us think that this government will be anxious to please a DEM from an opposition party in the meantime?

On the other hand, a DEM from a government party could easily come into conflict with the government but the government, could not exactly sanction him or her e.g. there is no whip to withdraw.

My view, therefore is that a DEM independent of any party is preferable.

As to who might be elected, well the turnout figures for the 2019 plebiscite were as follow:

Metropolitan District: 45%
Municipal Districts: 54.5%

Overall: 49.7%.

At the time, there were 150,628 registered to vote across the jurisdiction.

With population increases in the meantime, the size of the electorate probably exceeds 160,000 now.

Let's assume for the sake of argument that because there is a mayoral election, there is an increase in turnout to 50%, 59.5% (overall, say 54%).

So, that would mean that 86,400 votes were cast, giving a quota of 43,201.

With at least thirteen candidates in the field, that is a hell of a threshold to cross.

I can't see M. Quinlivan crossing it easily for a number of reasons: 1) he is not necessarily a household name outside of his own Dáil constituency, 2) the turnout in those parts of the city where he draws his support from, would be lower, 3) he will be competing for the same votes as F. Daly and 4) SF historically are not known for attracting transfers though he probably would attract transfers from F. Daly.

Supposing that M. Quinlivan attracted 30% of first preferences in the city and 10% in the county. That would give him, say 18,000 1st preference votes. He would need to pick up 25,000+ transfers to reach the quota, although that would not be necessary if everyone else was eliminated. It's a hell of a mountain to climb.

Thankfully no "celebrity" candidate has emerged. Let's hope that it stays that way!

I am not sure that a non-elected CE/Mayor would be better per-se although by-and-large, CEs of local authorities have come up through the ranks and would know the system inside out. They would also have contacts in government and a representative organisation, the CCMA.

I think that the major flaw is that there are no professional qualification criteria stipulated and that in theory, the village or city-idiot could stand as could the winner of a televised dancing show.

Another major concern I have is that unlike central government, the office holder has no cabinet/executive, so the scopes for consideration of policy and collective responsibility are minimal.

I don't want there to be a cabinet/executive.

Maybe the idea of the councillors being allowed to coalesce and form an executive themselves as I think is the case in some parts of the UK, could have been considered. The Mayor would be fully accountable and there would be more checks and balances although that said, some of the bozos in the county and one or two in the city probably couldn't run a tap.

If the Shinners won the DEM election, then I think that this would be the first time that they held executive power in what they refer to as "this state". But they don't seem to have another high profile candidate who could run for the Dáil apart from maybe Senator Gavin.

Another angle is that if a government party wins the mayoral race the govt of the day will be able to use that position to help appease the people of Limerick. Likewise there will probably be something big announced in the next few weeks to try and sway us towards one of the govt parties. Motorway to Cork or investment in the hospital would be my best guess

Who is the one candidate you refer to as being the most capable, let's call it, of doing the job ?

If Quinlivan can get his usual vote out on the day I reckon he's a shoo-in, much as it pains me to say so.

The main party candidates seem a little off the boil. The FF runner seems as weak as water. It's a three horse race between Maurice, John Moran and Helen McDonnell

Caitriona Ní Chatháin is the newest candidate. She is running for the Socialist Party. She launched her campaign yesterday and was on Live95fm this morning with Daniel Butler (FG) and Ruairi Fahy (PBP).

there used to be 3 in the city alone before you funneled everyone from Clare, Tipp and North Kerry into the regional! I know of people who had heart attacks in West Clare who had an Hour and a half transfer to UHL bypassing Ennis. 10mins from Barringtons to Raheen can't be worse?