Recruitment ban forces closure of town’s museum

AN HISTORIC museum in a top tourist town has been forced to close because of the Government’s ban on public sector recruitment.

Tourism experts in Kinsale in Co Cork are trying to arrange a meeting with Environment Minister John Gormley in a desperate effort to save the facility. They want him to make a special exception that would allow Cork County Council to employ a part-time museum caretaker, to replace the man who retired last year.

However, hopes are fading that the building will reopen in time to salvage what is left of the tourist season.