Fresh legal issues threaten further delays to Cork event centre
The proposed 6,000-capacity venue was estimated to cost around €50m when its sod was turned in 2016, but the price tag has at least doubled to over €100m. Picture: Populous
The controversial Cork event centre project has been hit with fresh legal issues fuelling fears of even more delays.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin confirmed the Government is grappling with new legal complications linked to the substantial additional state funding required for the proposed 6,000-capacity venue which was estimated to cost around €50m when its sod was turned in 2016 but which has seen the price tag at least double to over €100m.
With some €57m in state aid already pledged for a project where construction has yet to start, it is understood that an additional €30m to €40m in government funding is required.
It is the latest hurdle to hit the beleaguered project after more than eight years of planning delays, a redesign, a threatened legal challenge, a global pandemic, and funding issues linked to the soaring costs.
Mr Martin declined to comment on the nature of the latest legal issues but it has been suggested by sources familiar with the protracted process that it could be linked to complex state-aid rules, or to the rules governing the initial tender for state aid, which was set at €20m in 2016, but which has increased to €57m over the years.
With tens of millions more in state funding required, it is understood that there are concerns that if the Government approves the additional funding, it could be wide open to a possible legal challenge on several grounds.
A decision on the additional funding requirement was expected before the Dáil summer recess but that never happened.
Mr Martin, who suggested recently that a decision will be made before the budget in October, insisted that the Government will arrive at a decision soon but he would not give a timeline.
He insisted that he isn’t kicking the project down the road.
“I took a decision as Taoiseach to allocate additional funding to it, along with my government colleagues, and we had a memorandum in 2021 and then a detailed design followed that,” he said.
“That resulted in a significant increase in funding being required.
“It is not a funding issue, in terms of funding capacity, but legal issues have arisen and the government will be making a decision in the context of those issues very shortly.”
Fine Gael TD Simon Coveney said everybody involved wants to deliver the project but added: “There is a huge amount of frustration in those of us who really want to see this happen yesterday. It has been going on for a very long time.
“Cork needs an event centre. We have a fantastic site and a fantastic proposal that is ready to go but there are genuine issues.
“There have been many issues that had to be overcome to get this far and hopefully we will be in position to make a decision very shortly.”
Mr Martin said all the political leaders involved are frustrated with the protracted process and that these latest legal issues must be addressed.
“I can say no more about it at this stage but they will come before Government very, very shortly,” he said.
Figures presented to Cork’s city councillors earlier this month in response to a question from Labour councillor Peter Horgan show that since 2013, the city council has spent €1.6m on legal and consultant services linked to the event centre project.
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