Mayor holds out little hope council will be saved

TRALEE Mayor Terry O’Brien was yesterday holding out little hope that his council will be saved from dissolution, after failing to adopt a budget for 2004.

The fate of Tralee Town Council is in the hands of Environment Minister Martin Cullen, who has the power to install a commissioner to take over its functions.

However, Mr O’Brien (Labour) said further pleas to the minister were pointless.

“I’ve had discussions with the minister’s private secretary over the past few days and he made it clear to me that Tralee must sort out its own difficulties. But the minister may give us more time to discuss the issue if he feels we’re close to agreement,” he added.

Underpinning the council’s dire financial straits are loss-making tourist projects in which the council invested heavily, underwrote loans and is continuing to subsidise, in Tralee.

Tourism and recreational projects are this year costing the council €708,000 in loan repayments and subsidies.

The Jeanie Johnston famine replica ship, the County Museum and the Steam Train are the most high-profile and most expensive.

Jeanie Johnston: started in 1993 as a community project, using the famine to nurture links with Irish-Americans and thereby enhance tourism. Total cost was €16m. Survived several financial crises and had to be bailed out on a number of occasions.

The council, which agreed to underwrite loans for the Jeanie, is now committed to repaying the bank €235,000 per year for 15 years (The sum of €235,000 is just €20,000 short of what the council needs to maintain its bin collection service for this year).

Ironically, the Jeanie may not be based permanently in Tralee, after all, as it could become a national sail training vessel and Irish tourism promoter.

County Museum/Geraldine Experience (a recreation of medieval Tralee): twin developments started in the old Ashe Memorial Tralee, Tralee, in 1992. Total cost, €4m, with the council investing €2.5m. Targets for visitor numbers not reached and numbers falling constantly.

Consultants Simpson Xavier, in a report to the council almost two years ago, questioned the museum’s viability, saying it would be unlikely to survive without the council’s support.

The consultants also said the facility was in need of major refurbishment, which would only be possible if the council gave a continuing financial commitment.

The consultants said tough decisions would have to be taken and questioned the wisdom of the council’s continuing involvement in the project. No decision yet by the council.

Some councillors are now saying the museum, which is this year costing the council €306,500, should be closed for at least part of the year.

Steam Train: council played key role in securing the return of the old Tralee/Dingle loco number 5 from a railway museum in Vermont, USA, in 1986.

Project cost €1m and involved the relaying of a mile-long section of the old Tralee/Dingle railway line. Foot and mouth crisis and the absence of the loco for repairs during 2001/2002 resulted in decline in visitors. Train is costing the council €62,900 this year.

The current financial crisis may force the council to take hard decisions, which have been long-fingered up to now.

The closure of the Museum/Geraldine Experience is quite likely for the off-peak periods at least.