Directly elected mayors in Cork, Limerick, and Waterford will give the cities extra clout in securing State funding, said the Taoiseach. Leo Varadkar also said there is time over the next six weeks to convince people in these areas to vote yes on May 24 in the plebiscite for directly elected mayors, the same day as the local and European elections and the referendum on the regulation of divorce. It’s a very simple proposition.”Under the proposal, people in Cork, Limerick, and Waterford will be asked if they want directly elected mayors to assume some or all of the functions now performed by council chief executives. The person elected is probably going to have 50,000 or 60,000 votes. It’s going to be much harder for central government not to listen to that person, not to do something.”Mr Varadkar said that a directly elected mayor would be good for Cork City.

Source: Irish Examiner April 15, 2019 05:26 UTC