Council under fire over closed-door meeting on events centre
Tim Lucey has invited councillors to attend an in-committee meeting in City Hall on Monday before the council’s regular public meeting. Media and members of the public will be excluded.
It is understood that just one item will be discussed — the selection criteria to pick the preferred developer of a multimillion-euro events centre in the city who will ultimately benefit from a €16m State-backed kickstart fund.
In a report to the council last week, Mr Lucey said he published a contract notice in the Official Journal of the EU earlier this month inviting expressions of interest within 30 days from interested parties for inclusion in a list of parties to move forward to a competitive dialogue phase.
“The competitive dialogue phase will ultimately conclude with a procedure for the submission of final bids which then become the basis upon which a recommended product will emerge,” he said.
He said work finalising the selection criteria is ongoing and he could not comment further to “protect the integrity” of the process.
The chosen developers will go on to compete for the €16m incentive fund — €10m from the Government to be channelled through the Department of Arts, Heritage, and the Gaeltacht, and an estimated €6m from the city council.
O’Callaghan Properties and a joint venture by Heineken Ireland and BAM Contractors are considered front-runners for the centre.
Owen O’Callaghan has planning for a €50m, 6,000-capacity events centre on Albert Quay.
A €50m, 6,000-capacity events centre is the focal point of Heinken/BAM’s €150m Brewery Quarter regeneration of the former Beamish and Crawford site on South Main St.
Planning permission is still valid for an events centre on the old Ford distribution site near Páirc Uí Chaoimh, proposed by Howard Holdings.
Cllr John Buttimer (FG), who last week criticised the lack of public involvement and councillor input into the drafting of the selection criteria, criticised the calling of next week’s meeting.
“I fail to see the logic of having a meeting at this stage,” he said.
“In my view, this meeting is two months too late.”
He said the events centre will be one of the most significant projects in the city for decades, and councillors, and the wider public, must have an input.
A team comprising PricewaterhouseCoopers, IMD Group UK, international market experts on event venues, and quantity surveyors KMS Consulting have been appointed to assess the bids which will emerge over the next few weeks.
Mr Lucey hopes the process will be completed by May.
