Annacotty man Joe Pond makes a splash as he becomes the latest district leader

FIANNA Fail councillor Joe Pond has made been elected as the leader of Limerick’s metropolitan district.

The City East area member, who works as a caretaker at Milford National School, secured the chain of office, unanimouisly, at the annual general meeting of the metropolitan district this Monday morning.

The Annacotty man’s election comes as part of a Fianna Fail-Fine Gael power sharing pact, which will likely see Newcastle West councillor Tom Ruddle take the role of priomh-chomhairleoir next week.

Cllr Pond was nominated by party colleague, the priomh-chomhairleoir Cllr Catherine Slattery, and seconded by Cllr Kieran O’Hanlon.

He was joined in the chamber by Limerick City TD Willie O’Dea.

Meanwhile, fellow Fianna Fail councillor Catherine Slattery has been elected as deputy chairman, again unopposed.

Speaking upon taking the chain of office, Cllr Pond - husband to Geraldine and father to two adult children Tania and Paraic - said: “I believe we as a council, including Mayor John Moran must do all we can to help Limerick City ensure it does not return to the city it once was, but continues to grow and develop to be even better than ever before. I love Limerick. I believe we must all work together to make this happen. We have a beautiful city with the majestic River Shannon running through the city. We get a lot of things right, including Riverfest and Twilight Thursdays which has really taken off. As I walked in this morning I saw the Opera Site which is rapidly being redeveloped. A tremendous modernisation within the city.”

However, he said an area of concern is footfall within the city centre, and pledged to continue the work done by his immediate predecessor as metropolitan leader, Cllr Daniel Butler.

That is having an agenda item on each monthly metropolitan meeting focused on the urban area.

Cllr Pond is a long-time member of Fianna Fail, first joining the party more than 40 years ago.

He first ran in City East in 2014 on the newly-merged Limerick City and County Council, but missed out.

However, after Shane Clifford’s decision to quit politics at the end of 2015, Cllr Pond was co-opted into the vacant seat.

But in 2019, he failed to hold his seat in the City East ward. He was co-opted onto the local authority for a second time in 2022 following the tragic passing of Jerry O’Dea.

And in 2024, he was elected for the first time in his own right, taking the third seat in City East.