The results of a national survey of attitudes towards Limerick city and environs were 80 per cent positive, according to the co-ordinators of Limerick 2005, a £2 million project to enhance the city's profile over the next five years.
The survey of tour operators, retail investors and members of the public showed that the Limerick region was perceived "with some jealousy" as being highly successful in the industrial and education sectors, said Mr Gear oid Costelloe of Grant Thornton management consultants, which has been hired to co-ordinate the Limerick 2005 project.
The project is a co-ordinated endeavour by local development organisations working with private sector interests to improve the city's image. The steering committee, which hired the marketing firm to undertake the survey of about 400 respondents, is made up of representatives from Limerick Corporation, Limerick County Council, Limerick Chamber of Commerce, the Limerick Trade and Tourism Association, Shannon Development Company and the Limerick Council of Trade Unions, which have funded the project.
The city which inspired the prize-winning novel Angela's Ashes and was once known for urban blight is today thriving and confident, said Mr Costelloe. It was no longer defensive about its past and felt able to turn the enormous international publicity from Frank McCourt's runaway best seller about a poverty-stricken childhood into "an opportunity".
He added that he was looking forward to the film version by Alan Parker, scheduled for release later this year. It would boost tourism and raise the city's international profile, he said.
As the capital city of the mid-west region, and Ireland's largest economic cluster outside Dublin, Limerick had already changed "beyond recognition" in terms of urban renewal and commercial success in the past 10 years, Mr Costelloe said.
Improving the perceptions of survey respondents who were neutral or negative about the city was a matter of combining substantive improvements to enhance the city centre atmosphere with "getting the information out" about the changes that have already taken place, he said.
It was mainly people who had not visited Limerick in recent years who still held negative perceptions of the city. The revitalisation and pedestrianisation of historical and shopping areas, due to be completed within three years, and the building of a new marina and weir on the Shannon, would help in the continuing transformation of the city centre, Mr Costelloe said. As part of an immediate effort to improve the look of the city, Limerick Corporation is due to start a stricter approach to litter offenders in the city centre.
Fast-food outlets are being issued with notices requiring them to clean the street around their shops every three hours. Litter wardens, accompanied by members of the gardai, will issue £25 on-the-spot fines to offending members of the public.
Businesses, including auctioneers, who persist in posting illegal signs will be vigorously pursued, according to a corporation spokesman.