‘Funding certainty’ given to Cork event centre project

A process which provides “funding certainty” for the stalled €80m Cork event centre has been agreed.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is expected to confirm the news at the Fine Gael think-in in East Cork today.

The Irish Examiner understands that the Government has agreed to allocate the “necessary funding within spending ceilings” to allow Cork City Council enter final contract negotiations with developers BAM and the venue operators Live Nation later this year.

While it is expected there will be some increase in state funding and that specific figures have been agreed, they will not be disclosed for several months pending the outcome of final contracts talks.

Concerns over the terms and conditions associated with a €9m loan element of the State’s already pledged €30m support package have dogged the project since the start of the year.

City planners are due to issue a planning decision on the enlarged venue by the end of next month.

It is now hoped that if the project gets the green light and there is no appeal, this new process paves the way for builders to be on site before next summer.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney said the news should come as a relief to many in Cork.

“There are many businesses who are planning for the future on the back of this project,” he said.

“This is a project that can transform the city. It’s taken far too long to deliver but the certainty in terms of process and funding that the Government is now committing to, will, I hope, be a reassurance to people who’ve been waiting for this.”

The new process has emerged from a full review of the entire project, undertaken by senior civil servant Martin Fraser.

Construction has yet to start on a project which saw a preferred bidder named over four years ago, the sod turned over three years ago, a full redesign ordered, along with soaring costs before it was bogged down by funding hurdles and last-minute planning hitches.

Clearing the funding hurdle was seen as a vital step to give certainty to the project.

Under the new process, the Department of Local Government will take responsibility for channelling funding for the venue to the city council over a number of years.

It is understood that this process remains legally consistent with the terms of the original tender.

While the process has been agreed, a contracts process, which includes a number of procedural steps, must still be completed over the coming months.But Mr Coveney said he is confident that the

new mechanism, which has been agreed by all the key players, gives the required funding certainty that all involved have been waiting for.