The Mayor of Limerick has said "Christmas is not cancelled in Limerick" despite the cancellation of a Christmas market in the city centre.
Mayor John Moran, who was elected in June last year, had initially proposed a Christmas market at the Daniel O'Connell statue, just off the city’s O’Connell Street.
However, after cancelling the proposed market, Mr Moran delegated responsibility over to Limerick City and County Council.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, Mr Moran said: "This is a complex issue that has been going on all year. We decided last year that we wanted to improve Christmas."
Mr Moran said every year during the mayoral term, extra funding is put towards Christmas, and that this year it was envisioned that a 'Christmas trail’ would lead from King John’s Castle through the retail centre, the "spine of Limerick", and then on to the statue.
He said a sub-committee of councillors was put in place last year, which "worked very well", in order to deliver a similar Christmas experience to last year.
"I kept looking for more detailed plans… how the whole thing will be moving on and how it is going to be fully integrated. By the time we got there, it was sort of September, October and I just felt it was too late... to be sure we could introduce a new concept into Limerick this year," he said.
Mr Moran was unable to provide a figure when asked how much had been spent on the Christmas market in the build-up.
However, when asked how long it takes to plan Christmas, Mr Moran said: "We started in February essentially, trying to ask for a full year’s plan.
"It is not just Christmas; our team are very busy doing Paddy’s Day. They have to do Riverfest etcetera. What I really want to see is a rolling 12-month programme," he said.
"So that every business in town, the people of Limerick, know what is happening in the city 12 months out and more importantly, for businesses, where it is happening."
"That is still not in place, and we are still working to get that from the team," he said.
When asked if the council and the mayor’s office are "moving in lockstep or different directions", Mr Moran said they are working through how to get more delivery in an organisation which has extra resources in terms of cash "but has not been given the ability to have more staff in terms of approval".
He said this was "very difficult for the staff who produced an amazing Halloween in Limerick".
Mr Moran said as part of his time in office so far, he has brought in a system where there is a clear template to be filled out and that allows stakeholders and councillors to sign off on projects early, so that they can be "delivered well using public money".
"That is now running through the system, it is being rolled out across the system. There is a new IT system that has been rolled out… to capture all of these projects," he said.
Mr Moran said he would have preferred to see the tender for the Christmas market back in March.
"Right now, what I have asked the director general and staff… is let’s start planning for next year," he said.
"Because we don’t want to have any rumours… that there is any cancelling of Christmas… we are dialing it up in terms of delivering more for Christmas," he added.
