UL Concert Hall ‘doing okay’ despite €390k loss

The director of the University Concert Hall in Limerick has said the venue has a sustainable future despite a loss of over €390,000 during the last two years.

David Collopy was commenting on accounts for 2011 and 2010 that show the 1,000-seater venue recorded losses of €391,174 over the two years.

The figures show the venue had an operating loss of €316,263 in 2010 and €74,911 in 2011.

Mr Collopy said: “We hit a bump in the road, there is no doubt about it.”

However, he said the venue is aiming to break even on a cash basis this year.

He said: “Profit in the current environment is wishful thinking.

“We are doing okay and we are trying to do better, but we are not downbeat.”

He confirmed UL is committed to carrying out a €1.5m refurbishment of the venue over a number of years.

The chief factor behind the 2010 losses was a pay-off of €237,533 to Mr Collopy’s predecessor, Michael Murphy, on stepping down after 14 years in the post.

Mr Murphy received a termination payment of €110,364 and an additional €118,836 to provide future consultancy services, along with a redundancy payment of €8,333.

Mr Collopy said the venue had to spend €30,000 to €40,000 on new equipment and this affected the bottom line in 2011.

Revenues decreased by 13% last year, from €880,119 to €759,230.

Mr Collopy said that the venue continues to control costs and the figures show that the number of part-time positions last year was reduced from 40 to 30 — along with eight full-time employees.