Limerick’s not so Lady-like to Michael D

Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

Sigh. Sometimes it’s hard not to get cynical about politicians.

And we know our lot in Galway are fairly bad, and would test the patience of the least cynical of cynics. But that shower of mé féiners down in Limerick City Council really are in a league of their own.

Normally we wouldn’t be interested in the grubby political horse-trading that goes on in Limerick but this involved our own ‘People’s President’, Michael D Higgins.

Michael D was born in Limerick City, was reared in County Clare and flourished while living in his adopted Galway.

Fittingly, Galway honoured him with its highest accolade, and quite rightly made him a freeman of the city when he reached the Áras.

Limerick wanted to do the same except, it seems, pettiness and egos got in the way.

Our good friends in the Limerick Leader reported that “bitter recriminations” from the mayoral pact on the Limerick City Council led to plans for Michael D’s freeman award being ditched.

The deal, made behind closed doors, went as follows: Labour councillors wanted to honour their own, Michael D. The Fine Gael cllrs said fair enough, but only if Labour reciprocated and voted for a FG man as mayor, in a mayoral pact.

Labour apparently reneged on the mayoral agreement and instead backed an Independent cllr to become mayor. The Fine Gaelers got angry. They then got even.

In retaliation, they said they would no longer support the proposal to make Michael D a freeman of Limerick. And even worse again – in Labour’s eyes – Fine Gael went public with the whole thing. It was supposed to be all done behind closed doors but when love broke down, FG went public.

This attracted cries of “treachery” from Labour, who apparently don’t like their dirty-laundry aired in public.

Our friend in the Limerick Leader tells us that relations are so bad between the two parties (who are, incidentally, all lovey-dovey in Coalition at national level) he’d be “surprised if Fine Gael and Labour were to go into agreement on anything, even in the next Council” even after the election.

So if you think the bad blood between FG and Labour in Galway City is bad, it hasn’t a patch on Limerick.

And all the while, as the squabbling continues, one of Limerick’s most famous sons has yet to be honoured.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.