No funding from whom?
A friend recently pressed the Council to restore Tait’s Clock.
It is one of Limerick’s most distinctive monuments, standing at Baker Place since the 19th Century. The clock has not worked properly since 2019 and the structure is visibly deteriorating.
The response from Limerick City and County Council was that it had applied to the Historic Structures Fund for money to restore the monument, but the application was unsuccessful. A timeline for the work would therefore depend on funding becoming available.
In other words: “computer says no”.
Applying for national funding was perfectly reasonable. But the failure of one application is not the same as there being no money. It means that one particular source of money was unavailable.
The more honest explanation might be that restoring Tait’s Clock is not considered important enough to fund from the Council’s own resources. Or that other projects are more urgent. Or that the cost is considered too high.
Any of those could be legitimate positions. But they are choices, and we should describe them as choices.
Local authorities have substantial annual budgets. Much of that money is already committed to staff, statutory responsibilities and essential services. Some funding is ring-fenced and cannot simply be moved from one purpose to another. Nobody should pretend that the entire Council budget is freely available.
But neither is it true that local government has no discretion. Councillors make decisions about Local Property Tax and commercial rates. The Mayor proposes spending priorities. Money is allocated to local districts, public spaces, festivals, roads, community facilities and many other activities.
This is the time of year when the Council’s budget for 2027 is being prepared and its priorities are being decided. If people want more money spent on particular projects or services, now is the time to press the Mayor and their local councillors to support them. The time to influence a budget is while it is being written, not after it has been adopted.
The question, therefore, is not whether funding exists. It is how Limerick decides what is worth funding.
I was struck by this while cycling through northern France and Belgium recently. Town after town had invested in footpaths, cycleways, landscaping and well-maintained public spaces. These places were not transformed by winning a single grant competition. They were shaped by decisions made repeatedly over many years about what mattered. I was reminded of former US President Joe Biden’s words: “Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.”
Tait’s Clock is a relatively small example, but it illustrates a much bigger problem. When public bodies say that there is “no funding,” citizens should ask a further question:
No funding from whom?
