No extra cash for Cork events centre this year

A decision on the extra €10m requested for the stalled Cork events centre is unlikely before Christmas.

Today is the third anniversary of the awarding of €20m in state-aid to developers, BAM, to build the 6,000-seat venue, on the site of the former Beamish and Crawford brewery on South Main St.

The venue has since been redesigned, costs have soared, extra funding has been sought, and construction has yet to start.

Amid ongoing criticism about the delays and lack of information, Tánaiste Simon Coveney, who has repeatedly pledged to deliver the project for Cork, took to Twitter to respond to critics.

He said he had a number of “important meetings” this week to discuss the project.

“I know it’s taking time, but we will progress,” he said. He declined to comment further.

However, sources have told the Irish Examiner that a public announcement from the Government on the additional funding request — on top of the €20m already committed since 2014 — is very unlikely before Christmas.

The second anniversary of then Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s sod-turning for the events centre occurs next February.

Labour Party representative in Cork, Peter Horgan, said members of Cork City Council should be more vocal in their concerns about the entire saga.

“No-one is shouting about this,” he said.

“There is a complete lack of transparency, and confidence in the process needs to be restored.

“There needs to be a full and frank discussion about what’s happening, given the scale of public investment.

“It is no longer acceptable for statements promising the earth and delivering nothing. Business people, and citizens, deserve better.” He submitted a freedom-of-information request to Cork City Council last October, seeking emails, as well as details and minutes of meetings, between city officials, the Department of Arts, which is overseeing the funding, and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The latter will make the final decision on the funding requests.

City Hall confirmed that one meeting took place between city officials and representatives of the Department of Arts in April, 2017 and that 208 emails fell within his request.

But they refused to release further information, citing several sections of the act, including section 36, which relates to commercially sensitive information, where disclosure could prejudice the conduct or outcome of contractual or other negotiations of the person to whom the information relates.

Mr Horgan then lodged a freedom-of-information request with the Department of Arts, seeking the minutes of the April meeting. That request was also refused, because the department said the minutes did not exist.

“It’s extraordinary, to me, that such a meeting, dealing with a large financial request, would not have minutes documented,” said Mr Horgan.

The department said the purpose of this meeting was to allow the city council to provide an update to the department on the event centre.

“No decisions were made at the meeting, which would have required minuting,” a spokesperson said.

However, Mr Horgan said it was still his view that the project is “mired in secrecy and stalled in limbo, with the people of Cork on the hook for it”.