Cork council forks out almost €50k on St Patrick's Day trips to the US

The single largest bill on the trip was for the cost of accommodation at the four-star Hilton Chicago (pictured) where an invoice was paid for just over €9,500 with no breakdown of nightly rates provided. File picture

A $9,500 bill to stay at the Hilton in Chicago and a $1,500 brunch bill were among the headline items on a near €47,000 spend by Cork County Council on its St Patrick's Day trips.

Five councillors and six officials travelled to New York, Chicago and Detroit for St Patrick’s Day this year, with almost €18,000 spent on flights and a further €17,366 spent on a range of hotels for the celebrations.

There was also a $1,100 bill at the upmarket Gage restaurant in Chicago, including three bottles of $64 white wine, a $75 bottle of red wine, a $54 prime New York strip steak, and two “colossal prawn cocktails”, each of which cost $28. A gratuity of 20% – amounting to $167.60 – was part of the bill as well.

A Parade Day brunch at the Emerald Loop Bar and Grill cost another $1,564 while transport “transfer” costs, including limo hire, on the trip totalled more than €3,600.

The single largest bill on the trip was for the cost of accommodation at the four-star Hilton Chicago where an invoice was paid for just over €9,500 with no breakdown of nightly rates provided. 

Food costs

More than $8,500 in receipts were also submitted for repayment, according to a log of costs released by the council under FOI. These included the $1,100 bill at the Gage restaurant, the $1,564 Parade Day Brunch, and a whole host of other bills.

There was a $148 bill at Il Punto Restaurant in New York, a $1,670 bill at the stylish Dearborn restaurant in Chicago, and a $177 bill for five Bloody Marys, snacks, and other drinks at Vivio’s in Detroit.

The council also ran up another sizable bill at the Gage in Chicago, spending $348 at the restaurant with two lobster bisques costing $30 and a bottle of Chehalem Pinot Noir setting them back $64. Other costs incurred included $260 for a Cork County Council banner, the local authority said.

Hotel and transport costs

A breakdown of the spending shows that €14,106 was spent on flights between Ireland and New York and Chicago. Another €2,901 was spent on internal flights to Detroit, with a further €739 spent on a flight to New York.

Hotel costs for the trip included €9,920 in accommodation bills paid in Chicago, €3,226 in Detroit including rooms at the Courtyard Downtown Marriott, and €4,220 in New York including a stay at the Crowne Plaza Midtown.

A breakdown of other expenditure details spending of $7,773 on “food and entertainment”, a further $328 on taxis, and $411 in miscellaneous costs.

Spending by other councils

The high rate of spending in Cork was in sharp contrast to neighbouring Kerry where the county council spent around €7,000 to send just a single elected representative and one official to the USA.

Flight and hotel costs for that travel came to €2,943 while the remaining sum was used to cover the cost of hotels, transport, and subsistence.

Altogether, local authorities around the country spent around €375,000 sending councillors and officials away for St Patrick’s Day.

The biggest spenders were Limerick City and County Council who splashed out around €100,000 sending 27 politicians and staff to New York, Savannah, and London for the March 17 festivities.

Not every council sent a delegation with nobody travelling from any of the four local authorities in Dublin, or from Cork City Council, or from councils in Westmeath, Waterford, Cavan, Monaghan, or Galway County Council.

Asked about the costs they incurred, a statement from Cork County Council said: “[The local authority] avails of the unique opportunity that the St Patrick’s period offers, which attracts levels of publicity and media attention unmatched by the national day of any other country, providing a unique opportunity to showcase Cork County, and Ireland, from both a tourism and investment perspective.”