I am a tremendous admirer of Jim
Kemmy. It's hard to believe that he's
been dead for ten years now. He was
such a champion of the
disadvantaged and vulnerable. He
attracted support from all sections
of society, and commanded somuch
respect.

The fact that he was a self educated man
made him stand out that bit more.
Coming from a political family with links to the
Labour Party, I took personal
encouragement from him. In a way,
Limerick has been blessed by
political figures like Jim and Frank
Prendergast.


Patrick Punch's
I live on the South Circular Road, but
where I go for a pint tends to depend
on where I am.
My local is Patrick Punch's -
I often go in there for a bit
of food as well.
It's a very impressive
place, and you can see the benefit of
the money they invested in doing it
up. It's not just the bar and
restaurant, but the hotel and leisure
centre in there is top quality. If I'min
town, I usually pop into South's pub.
I'm a fan of Fennessy's as well.

Terry Wogan
He's one of the best broadcasters
this country has ever produced, and
he's Limerick born and bred. It was a
personal honour for me to present
him with the freedom of the city last
year, along with Tom Ryan. He's been
hugely successful in his field, and
whenever he's spoken about
Limerick he's had nothing but praise
for the place.

Swimming
I made it my New Year's resolution to
get more active. In fairness, I'm
doing fairly well with it so far. I
wouldn't participate in teamsports
as such, but I enjoy swimming. I go
swimming in the Punch's leisure
centre, and whenever I can I go
walking.
When the weather is as fine
as it is today, you've no excuse not to!
I took up golf recently, but I wouldn't
consider myself a golfer just yet.

Family Retreats
Growing up, Kilkee was like my
second home. It was the case with
most of Limerick - you'd go down on a
fine weekend with your parents,
brothers and sisters. Now I havemy
own young family, and I find it's the
same all over again.We try and get
out to retreats like that as often as
we can, even if it just means driving
up to Cratloe, parking the car and
heading off for a walk.

The Developing City
I think the entire council should take
pride in the developments we've seen
throughout the city centre. I recently
saw a set of pictures - shots of
Bedford Row before and after the
pedestrianisation.

Today, it's an absolute pleasure to
walk down that street, with cafes and
modern shops either side of you.
I think that the benefits for
shoppers and retailers are there for
all to see, and we should be
pressing for further development if
we're to attract more people into
the city.

O'Connell's butchers
I'd have tremendous loyalty to the
place myself.My mother, God rest
her, would almost make dressing us
up and taking us into town on a
Saturday a ritual.
She'd always call into O'Connell's
for her meat, and I do the same
today. The quality of the meat in
there is fabulous.