Limerick Council is accused of ‘looking a gift horse in the mouth’ by rejecting an offer to take over the €30million International Rugby Experience building, which is shutting less than a year after opening.
The rugby museum, launched with much fanfare in May by rugby legends including former Munster and Ireland internationals Keith Wood and Paul O’Connell, has announced it will close for good just before Christmas.
It said it had tried to gift the building, owned by Limerick billionaire JP McManus, to the council, to be run as a rugby museum until 2028 but then to be available for any civic use.
Limerick Council is accused of ‘looking a gift horse in the mouth’ by rejecting an offer to take over the €30million International Rugby Experience building, which is shutting less than a year after opening.
However, this was rejected by the council executive, despite a €1.2million donation from Mr McManus to help with running costs. The council said the proposal was not financially viable.
Following a major backlash to the announcement, it was confirmed yesterday that a special meeting of the council, with all councillors present, will be held next Tuesday to discuss the future of the building.
Mr McManus, who owns a string of other properties including the five-star Adare Manor hotel and spa resort, which will host the Ryder Cup golf tournament in 2027, did not make any public comment yesterday.
Willie O’Dea, Fianna Fáil TD for Limerick city, said: ‘It’s almost a classic example of looking a gift horse in the mouth.
It said it had tried to gift the building, owned by Limerick billionaire JP McManus, to the council, to be run as a rugby museum until 2028 but then to be available for any civic use. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
‘This building, an architecturally magnificent building, adds greatly to the public aspect of the city, and it was built by a contribution of €30million of JP McManus’s own money, so it seems absolutely bewildering that the council can’t accept it.’
He said his heart went out to the 50 staff, who will be facing redundancy at Christmas.
He also said he had asked for a copy of the council’s report, noting that the council had said it could not take on the ongoing capital and running costs.
Mr O’Dea told RTÉ Radio: ‘It is a state-of-the-art building, it has won awards, I don’t know what they mean by ongoing capital investment, I don’t know what investment is needed.
‘I can understand… the revenue coming in isn’t sufficiently high to meet the expenses. My understanding is it would need around 100,000 visitors a year to make it financially viable from a revenue point of view.
‘It has had 60,000 in its first year, but that’s just the first year. You would think that with more aggressive and inventive marketing that that figure could be driven up.’
The museum’s construction was approved by An Bord Pleanála in 2018, despite concerns voiced by An Taisce about the necessary demolition of three other buildings, which were not protected structures but were listed as being of regional importance in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
The site fell within the South City and Newtown Pery Architectural Conservation Area. The board inspector said that all the floorspace had been vacant for some 10 years and was falling into disrepair, and that this was a ‘notable feature of much of the adjoining Georgian buildings’.
Local councillor Conor Sheehan said that all correspondences relating to the building and the project must be put into the public domain, including the briefing made to councillors this week.
‘The people of Limerick deserve to know what is going on here,’ the Labour general election hopeful said.
‘Limerick is a great city and the International Rugby Experience could have brought an uplift in tourists visiting. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water and find a solution here.
‘It’s unconscionable that it could be left idle indefinitely.’
In a statement the International Rugby Experience said: ‘The intention was to gift this architecturally significant, award-winning building to the State and in so doing, help with visitor footfall to Limerick city centre.
‘This gift offer, along with a €1.2million donation, was made to Limerick City and County Council in October 2023, with Heads of Terms signed by both parties in March 2024.
‘The proposed offer would have seen the building free to be used for any civic purpose by Limerick City and County Council after 2028.’
It added: ‘The experience has brought over 60,000 visitors to the city centre since it opened and has delivered an estimated €7.8million boost to the local economy in that period.
‘This project was a not-forprofit charitable venture and was constructed and delivered without State support, funding or grant aid.’
The council responded: ‘We want to assure the public that every effort was made to secure the proposed transfer of the International Rugby Experience into Discover Limerick DAC, the Council-owned tourism company that manages other Limerick attractions including King John’s Castle.
‘We were unable to secure a viable path forward as substantial operational and capital funding would be required from the Council into the future.’
The International Rugby Experience said it would honour ‘all existing bookings for the venue’ up to December 23, including ‘visits to Santa’s Secret Workshop and other booked events’.
‘The doors will close permanently from that date and no new bookings are being taken with immediate effect. Bookings for subsequent dates will be refunded in full,’ it said.
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source link
