John Moran, an Independent contender for the position of directly elected mayor of Limerick in the election on June 7th, has announced his resignation from the board of Shannon Airport and the Limerick Economic Forum. This move, he confirms, is to avert potential allegations of conflicts of interest as he runs for the premier role in the city. He has stepped back from his positions at local organisations such as the UL Foundation, Liveable Limerick, Narrative 4, and the Hunt Museum.
Moran, during his time as the secretary general of the Department of Finance, took steps to improve transparency, a practice he promises to continue if he becomes the mayor. He expressed to the Limerick Post that Limerick needs to adopt “a culture of transparency and integrity,” even stricter than governmental regulations for candidates.
However, it is to be noted that the same John Moran, during his tenure as a lobbyist for Uber, alleged that he had special privileges with then-finance minister, Michael Noonan, such as dropping documents at his residence. Uber also insinuated that its drafted text was incorporated in Fine Gael’s manifesto of February 2016 due to Moran’s lobbying efforts.
Leaked files indicated that some of Moran’s engagements were not recorded in the Lobbying Register. The files further implied that Uber was hopeful that establishing a base in Limerick would provide “political leverage,” prompting the government to press regulators and usher in legislation for Uber’s operation in Ireland.
Interestingly, the Web Summit, a prominent organisation, does not appear on the lobbying register. There are no records of any lobbying by Paddy Cosgrave, the tech conference’s outspoken co-founder since its inception in September 2015. Cosgrave had regular communications with the government regarding the final conference to be held in Dublin in November 2015, where he expressed dissatisfaction over a range of issues, including hotel charges and traffic.
The tech conference, previously held in Lisbon, saw its organiser Cosgrave engaging in several discussions with politicians and state officials over time. Relations were cordial with some, like when he attended a U2 concert with the then newly elected taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, during summer 2017. However, their friendship reportedly deteriorated later.
In 2018, Cosgrave’s private meeting with John Concannon, the then leader of the Government’s Strategic Communications Unit, attracted public attention. Following the meeting, Cosgrave claimed to have been informed about the comprehensive plan for what later became Varadkar’s spin department.
Sebastian Hamilton, a former journalist who became a lobbyist, joined the Web Summit team as the head of public affairs last year. Yet, it doesn’t seem he’s engaged in any lobbying as of yet – a fact reaffirmed by his silence when questioned about the Web Summit’s omission from the lobbying register.
However, a shift is coming and a new taoiseach is anticipated. Despite this, Steward’s Lodge, the four-bedroom property located within the Farmleigh House estate intended as residence for the taoiseach, will still remain unoccupied. The house has seen limited use by various taoisigh over the past 18 years since its €600,000 refurbishment in 2006 plus more recent renovations. The current taoiseach, Simon Harris, who resides in Greystones with his wife Caoimhe and their two children, doesn’t intend to relocate to Phoenix Park shortly. Previous taoisigh like Bertie Ahern, Enda Kenny and Brian Cowen made sporadic use of the residence, despite having accommodations near Leinster House.
Leo Varadkar utilised the house for the longest duration, moving in during a Covid-19 lockdown period. He, however, relocated to Dublin 8 to live with his partner, Matt Barrett, leaving the house empty during an ongoing housing crisis. This might not send an encouraging signal, though Harris, a father of two kids aged three and five, might decide to occasionally spend the night at the Victorian lodge to perhaps get quality sleep.
Ubitricity, a company that possesses over 10,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging points worldwide, has announced its departure from Ireland. This spells further ill tidings for EV drivers. The firm, owned by Shell and featuring over 7,000 charging spots in the UK, initiated a pilot programme in partnership with Fingal County Council in 2021, where several charging spots were established in Malahide and Castleknock. Recently, however, Ubitricity communicated to Fingal and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, another potential collaborator on a pilot project, that it intends to withdraw from Ireland.
Johnny Ronan’s proposal to overhaul Citigroup’s headquarters at North Wall Quay into a 17-storey tower has elicited split opinions. The Gaiety School of Acting, which is hoping to occupy the teaching space within the development, penned a letter to the Dublin City Council in commendation of the developer’s “unrivalled innovation and high quality”. However, the occupants of the local Clarion Quay apartment scheme have voiced their dissent. The scheme’s management company, that speaks for 186 flats, voiced its “surprise” at the “magnitude and structure” of the tower, inferring that Ronan did not contemplate the potential impact on the 300 to 400 Clarion Quay residents, among them 37 apartments housing Dublin City Council tenants. Curiosity was also sparked as to why a “perfectly operating” building necessitates demolition. On a brighter note, Wicklow County Council has permitted Johnny Ronan’s daughter Jodie’s request, alongside her partner John Savage, to amplify the Goulding Summerhouse. This floating glass edifice situated on the river Dargle, conceptualised by Ronnie Tallon, has been featured in numerous architectural journals and is where Jodie and John, along with their children, plan to inhabit.