City council refuses Sky Garden FOI request

A LOCAL authority has refused to release a raft of documents relating to Diarmuid Gavin’s controversial €2.3 million Sky Garden which was funded by taxpayers.

Cork City Council cited several reasons for its decision to refuse the Freedom of Information (FoI) request from the Irish Examiner.

It quoted various parts of Section 20, 21, and 27 of the FoI legislation, including:

nthe granting of the request would be contrary to the public interest;

nand its disclosure could prejudice the conduct or outcome of contractual or other negotiations of the person to whom the information relates.

It is understood the council is still engaged with the garden designer as the city tries to find a permanent home for the garden, whose signature pod has been in storage in the Showgrounds since early June.

The FoI request was made on June 7 following controversy about the cost to the taxpayer of the project, along with stinging criticism from Mr Gavin about how the council handled the project in the run-up to the Chelsea Flower Show.

The Irish Examiner sought copies of all records, including written and electronic correspondence, relating to the Sky Garden which won a gold medal at the prestigious event.

Fáilte Ireland is covering 83% of the estimated €2.3m cost in the hope it will become an iconic tourist attraction in Cork city.

But the garden’s signature pod was placed in storage in the Showgrounds — adjacent to Páirc Uí Chaoimh — when it arrived in Cork in early June.

The structure is likely to remain in storage for the rest of the year, while plans are made for its installation at either a proposed new city park in the Mardyke area or in Fitzgerald’s Park.

The city council’s financial commitment has been capped at €406,000 but officials have said the final cost to the local authority will be less than that figure.

Last month, city officials asked for four more weeks to compile the documents sought under FoI because the request related to such a number of records that compliance with the standard four-week time period was not reasonably possible.

It’s understood there could be up to 1,000 separate documents involved. The decision to refuse the request was made last Tuesday.

City manager, Tim Lucey, has consistently defended the money spent on the project.

“When this product is finished, it will be something people will want to visit, and it will reflect the investment put into it,” he said.