Limerick City of Culture boss quit in row over €1.8m weekend

Tensions developed between the Limerick City of Culture board and former artistic director, Karl Wallace over a proposal to stage a major international weekend event costing €1.8m, it emerged yesterday.

Board member Brian McEnery said Mr Wallace was very “enthusiastic” about the Royal de Luxe programme, but the board did not sign off on this.

Mr McEnery said: “That was a matter of tension, but that was a €1.8m spend over the course of one weekend. That was a third of our grant from Government. We were not in a position, and certainly as a board member, I would not have been comfortable to say we were going to spend €1.8m over the course of one weekend.”

Mr McEnery said there were more than 100 local community groups involved in the city of culture programme and they would not have been able to embark on a programme of this size if they decided to go ahead with a project on the scale and cost of the Royal Luxe event.

Mr McEnery said he wanted to reassure the artistic community that they would deliver on the year-long programme.

Mr McEnery said tensions will arise between artistic, managerial and financial functions when delivering a programme of the scale of city of culture.

He said: “Quite clearly, the minister and the department have outlined that we have to be very careful and judicious on how we use the expenditure and that a disproportionate of it does not go on salaries and on administration, that it goes towards the programme.

“Our focus as a board was that the vast majority [of funding] would go towards the programme and that we would run a lean organisational structure. In view of the board we had a decision to make as to where we were going to allocate the resources and indeed in respect of what projects.”

The first major performance of the year of culture will take place later this month, when the Riverdance 20th anniversary world tour commences at the UL Arena.

Riverdance composer Bill Whelan, who is from Limerick and a City of Culture board member, yesterday indicated that the board will appoint a replacement for Mr Wallace.

Mr Whelan said: “We have put a lot of time, effort and consideration into the programme, and I wish to acknowledge the contribution that Karl Wallace and the programmers have made to this. I believe that we have an exciting, ambitious and edgy programme that will capture the imagination of audiences and will leave Limerick well placed to bid for the European Capital of Culture in 2020.

“My contribution to the Board of Limerick City of Culture has been to offer artistic guidance to the project at board level. It is undoubtedly a disappointment when anyone decides to step down from the team, but I am confident on behalf of the board that there will be appropriate artistic direction for the project at a senior level for 2014.”