The worst feuding in Limerick is not between rival crime gangs but between statutory bodies, according to the chairman of Limerick Regenerations Agencies, the body tasked with redeveloping disadvantaged areas of the city and county.

The agencies are currently embroiled in a row over hiring irregularities, but their chairman John Fitzgerald has strongly defended the controversial appointments and hit out at "destructive feuding" between local authorities in the region.

The Limerick city manager and the Limerick county manager – both board members – have told the Sunday Tribune they had "not been made aware of the circumstances of the appointments" of six staff – including the daughter of the chief executive Brendan Kenny and the son of a non-executive director – who were hired without going through the standard public appointments process.

City manager Tom Mackey said he did not think it was acceptable that the appointments were made in this way and county manager Ned Gleeson told the Sunday Tribune: "I intend raising these matters at the next meeting of the agencies."

However, Fitzgerald, a former Dublin city manager, this weekend made a robust defence of his chief executive.

In a scathing verdict on the local agencies in Limerick, Fitzgerald said that of all the feuding in Limerick, "the most destructive feuding is between the statutory bodies" which was a "serious contributor" to the city's problems.

He said there was a "lot of animosity between local authorities" and that Limerick "desperately needs leadership" and "more and better governance".

Referring to the six appointments, Fitzgerald said that, as in any company, individual appointments were the responsibility of management and not non-executive directors. He also added that the agencies' boards were "not boards of governance". The directors were there in their capacity as service providers or community activists, it was not like the "boards of Fás, CIE or Dublin Bus".

It was "an emergency situation" when the appointments were made [in 2007] and the emphasis was on putting a team together quickly and sorting out the formalities later, Fitzgerald said.

Getting staff for positions that involved "going into areas where the public sector hadn't worked in years" was very difficult particularly because jobs were plentiful at the time.

"If I had suggested that to protect our backs, we should wait six months and go through procurement, another €20m of destruction [would have occurred] not to mention the havoc that would have been wreaked by a small minority," Fitzgerald said.

Expressing his genuine "love" for the public service and what it can achieve, Fitzgerald said his one frustration with it was that if you "put the formalities in place and made sure your back was covered", you could "deliver the most God-awful service and get away with it". However, if you did a great job but did not put all the formalities in place, the system "can turn on you".

While he accepted there is "a perception issue" about the appointments, and that it was always the intention that the situation would be regularised, Fitzgerald said his priority at the time was addressing the "appalling situation for innocent victims" in Limerick.

Given the pressures Kenny was under and the hours he was working, Fitzgerald said it was a "great comfort" to him that the chief executive was joined in Limerick by his daughter because it increased the prospect of his staying on in Limerick.

Fitzgerald said he had no doubt that in the agencies doing their work "toes were justifiably trod on" and it was "inevitable that some people feel hard done by". But he said they had "done more in the last two years than [had been done] in the previous 20".

A "fantastic job had been done in stabilising the situation" but it was "hugely important that we move on with the next phase".