Event centre timing branded ‘cynical election stunt’

The Taoiseach’s sod turning on Cork City’s long-awaited €50m events centre later this week has been branded a “cynical election stunt”.

Fianna Fáil councillor Terry Shannon last night lashed out at the timing of the ceremony as Lord Mayor Chris O’Leary confirmed he has been invited to attend Friday’s event on the former Beamish and Crawford site on South Main St.

Representatives of developers BAM, and the centre’s ultimate operators, entertainment giants Live Nation, will also attend, Mr O’Leary told councillors at last night’s city council meeting.

However, the Irish Examiner has confirmed that protracted contract talks between BAM and Live Nation, and which were being overseen by the city council, have yet to conclude.

The talks, which started when €20m of public funding was secured in December 2014 to kickstart the project, have been dogged by delays, fuelling fears the project was in trouble. However, it is understood that talks are in the final stages and could conclude soon.

Sources close to the process said the presence of Live Nation officials at Friday’s sod turning is hugely significant.

Council chief executive Ann Doherty said the contract talks are where she expected they would be at this stage.

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“The sod turning on Friday is symbolic,” she said.

However, Mr Shannon said given that contracts have yet to be signed, he has no doubt that the sod turning is part of the Fine Gael election campaign.

“The Taoiseach is coming down as part of the Fine Gael roadshow, for the cameras, and the questions to the city council management team tonight were: Can we expect to see cranes on site straight away? Will building happen straight away, or is this just a photo opportunity?” he said.

He also criticised Fine Gael for what he described as “cynical attempts” to try and align themselves with some of the development underway in the city.

“They have been making claims about a lot of the development in the city that they’ve had nothing to do with at all,” he said.

The 6,000-seat event centre is the centrepiece of an ambitious é150m joint venture regeneration project of the historic former brewery site.

The scheme has been designed to include new apartments, shops, a cinema, two new footbridges and laneways, a brewery museum, and huge viewing tower with a two-storey bar and restaurant.

A total of €20m of public money is being poured into the event centre element to get it off the ground — €12m from the Government and €8m from Cork City Council coffers.

The development of such a facility has been a long-term strategic goal of the council.

It was earmarked for the South Main St site following a competitive tender process for the public funding which concluded in December 2014.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney said last week he was confident that building will start soon.

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