Gardai to investigate phone hacking allegations amid City of Culture controversy

Andrew Carey
CHRISTINE may be battering the west coast with high winds, heavy rain and surging seas but Limerick’s status as the nation’s first city of culture is taking an awful beating, and now it seems that the Gardai are set to become involved.
The storm at the centre of the City of Culture controversy does not seem to be over just yet as the tale took another twist this Monday morning when the front page of Irish Independent reported that the Gardai are to investigate allegations of phone hacking amid the resignation of Patricia Ryan from her position as CEO.
It is understood that Gardai are to receive a formal complaint from Ms Ryan alleging that her phone was hacked.
News of her departure emerged on social media websites a number of hours before an official statement was released.
In their story, the Irish Independent reports that Ms Ryan fears her voicemail messages were hacked as news of her intention to step down was leaked online before she had informed anyone other than family.
The Limerick City of Culture facebook page was hacked over the weekend and the phone hacking allegations comes as the latest development in the saga that kicked off Limerick’s year of celebration as City of Culture 2014.
Arrangements are being put in place to replace both MS Ryan as CEO and Karl Wallace as Artistic Director in the coming days.
It is understood that the positions are to be advertised before the week is out and Minister Jimmy Deenihan is to meet with the board and concerned parties to make changes to the running of the year long celebrations.