During her successful seven years as an accomplished news reporter with TV3, Dooradoyle native, Laura Ryan, once received a congratulatory letter from the then Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Diarmuid Scully, regarding her positive coverage of Limerick.

Now she’s made promoting Limerick her full time job, in her new role as Limerick City Coordination Officer.

“I’ve always been very ‘pro-Limerick’ and the chance to do it for a living really appealed to me. I’m really excited about the role and I‘ll still be dealing with all the Limerick journalists after spending the past ten years as one in Dublin,” Laura beamed with enthusiasm.

Having started out as a local reporter in Limerick, Laura moved to Dublin to work for ‘The Star’ newspaper. She then joined TV3 News in 2001, making herself one of the most recognised faces in the country.

“Limerick has changed so much over the past ten years. It’s quieter than Dublin that’s for sure, but I’m not stuck on the M50 every morning, which is great. It’s quieter but that’s nicer. People actually say hello to you on the street in Limerick. There’s a real sense of community here,” she said.

As an ardent rugby fan, Laura believes the upcoming Munster vs All Blacks clash in November at the redeveloped Thomond Park will be one of Limerick’s finest moments ever.

“Thomond Park is a real positive for Limerick. We are blessed with a stadium which has now become a real landmark for the world to see and experience. Hotels around the City are already practically booked up for the match. A lot of foreign journalists will be attending the game and there will be thousands coming to Limerick from New Zealand.”

One of her aims for the week surrounding the 30-year anniversary of Munster’s historic victory over the mighty ‘Haka Warriors’ is to run a rugby calendar of events.

One of her biggest aims is “to build on the foundations of the Co-ordination Office”, left by former CEO Andrew Mawhinney and Laura’s predecessor Mary Dundon.

“It’s important to talk up the City. We have loads of positives here and it’s great to have a coordination office in place. I’m thinking of developing an official website for Limerick, which will cover news, information, tourism, hotel bookings, etc. It’s in the early stages,” Laura explained.