Deenihan read about resignation ‘in the paper’

Jimmy Deenihan, the arts minister, has admitted knowing nothing about the row that led to the resignation of a key figure in the Limerick City of Culture project — because he was on his Christmas holidays.

Defending his sketchy knowledge of the major controversy destabilising the project, Mr Deenihan blamed it on the “holiday period”. He only learned of the resignation of artistic head Karl Wallace when he read it in the paper, he said.

“If I knew he had cause for concern, I would have discussed it with him. I read in the paper that he resigned,” Mr Deenihan said in an interview on RTÉ radio. Yesterday, the row claimed another casualty, with the resignation of city of culture chief executive Patricia Ryan.