Physical altercation or ‘robust exchange?’ Limerick mayor and Dr Pat Daly dispute row at City Hall

MAYOR John Moran has claimed he was “physically manhandled out the way” during a tense exchange with council director general Dr Pat Daly.

The claim was made after Dr Daly - who characterised the pair’s clash as “a fairly robust exchange” - said he felt the mayor had thrown council staff “under the bus” after an explosive interview on local radio last October, 2025.

The claim is the latest flashpoint in a deteriorating relationship between the two most senior figures on Limerick City and County Council.

Dr Daly claimed he had to give the mayor “vapours” (a phrase he used to describe calming tensions) after another testy interaction between himself and the mayor.

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The details have emerged in the first of a three-part series in The Currency examining the political experiment that saw Mayor Moran - a former Secretary General at the Department of Finance - become Ireland’s first directly elected mayor in June 2024.

The feature, written by former Limerick Leader editor Alan English, draws on seven hours of interviews with Mr Moran, as well as 40 additional interviews conducted during the reporting process.

Dr Daly has claimed that Mayor Moran’s patience is “wafer-thin”.

“I keep saying to John, ‘You’re 18 months in, into a 100-year-old tradition. What are you expecting?’ And I’ve also said to him,

‘Success might be in year five, because the system is so traditional.’ I had to give him vapours after it,” said Dr Daly, who up until June 2024 was the council’s top executive.

It has also emerged that Mayor Moran had unsuccessfully applied to be the council chief executive in 2022 - and was beaten to the role by Dr Daly.

Mayor Moran has said there has been a “fundamental clash in approach” and compared himself to Roy Keane.

“It’s an example of somebody who comes from an environment where outcomes matter – like when we were capitalising the banks. The [Limerick] hurlers suffered for years and years. And then somebody came in and brought in the right supports for them, so they could focus on delivering on the field. That’s what a local authority in Ireland should be doing,” the mayor claimed in the piece, which was published this Tuesday morning.

He added before being elected to the role in June 2024: “I think I totally underestimated how ill-prepared the organisation was for this.”

“I wouldn’t call it bad management, but my sense is that Pat is happy to delegate much more than I would under the circumstances,” he added.

Dr Daly added that Limerick City and County Council is at full stretch.

“He kind of came in swinging, because he wanted everything done yesterday. So we were just saying, ‘John, that’s not the footing to start on,” continue the comments from Dr Daly reported by Mr English, who is now associate editor at The Currency.
Things came to a head in October 2025 when Mayor Moran went on Limerick’s Live95FM to suggest what was planned for Christmas in the city was “not good enough”.

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He added: “I think I was elected to introduce higher standards on this kind of stuff, and be more demanding.”

Dr Daly admitted he was “upset” by the contents of the interview, and revealed he considered telephoning back Limerick’s local radio station.

“But then I said to myself - don’t do it, it wouldn’t be a good look. It would have been ‘right, mayor - we’ve got Pat on the other line here’. Imagine that,” he said.

Dr Daly said: “He kind of threw us all under the bus a bit. So I was upset, yes. Normally I’m pretty balanced. People were saying to me, ‘We’re getting killed here. We’re doing our best. We can’t seem to keep the man satisfied.”

Instead, Dr Daly wrote an email to the council staff as well as the councillors about Mayor Moran’s interview.

He wrote he fully understood and shared the “sense of disappointment” the remarks had caused.

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He acknowledged that many staff had been in touch following the interview and that it was natural to feel “disheartened”, but urged them to: “focus on what we do best - serving our community with professionalism, integrity and pride.”

He praised staff, noting they had taken on extra responsibilities and acted with professionalism, saying their efforts were “seen and deeply appreciated.”

Limerick Leader/Limerick Live has contacted Limerick City and County Council and Mayor of Limerick John Moran for comment on the claims of a physical altercation.

Both offices at the council have declined to comment.