DISCUSSIONS are to be held between elected members of Limerick City and County Council and the Irish Rugby Experience (IRE) at local authority headquarters next week.
The private workshop, according to a notice on the Council’s website, Limerick.ie, will be held with the Irish Rugby Experience at County Hall in Dooradoyle next Thursday (June 26).
Limerick horse racing mogul and philanthropist JP McManus will address the elected representatives of Limerick City and County Council at the closed-door meeting over the now closed €30m premier building on Limerick City’s main thoroughfare and the events which led to negotiations around the landmark building’s handover to the Council breaking down.
The red-brick vaulted ceiling monolith, built to honour the global oval ball game, which was red-carpet launched by a host of rugby stars in 2023, was shuttered last December after only 18 months in operation along with the loss of around 50 jobs.
Speaking ahead of the private meeting, local Labour councillor Joe Leddin said that while he accepted the Council executive had bona fide concerns about the cost of running the IRE into the future, the planned meeting with Mr McManus next Thursday was a “welcome” development.
“To be fair to JP, he expended €30million plus on the acquisition of the old building, the design and rebuild and operations, and it’s unfortunate now to see the facility closed in the heart of the city,” he said.
“I, along with most – if not all – councillors would like to see the building used for something, but we have to be cognisant that councillors are in charge of public monies and therein lies the challenge.”
In May last year, the IRE claimed that Mr McManus’ “gift” to the Council to run the IRE until 2028 and then, if it wished, use the building “for any civic purpose” thereafter, had been agreed when Heads of Terms were signed by both parties in March 2024.
The IRE then explained it was “unable to advance” the proposed deal with the Council, leading to the IRE’s closure.
In response at the time, Limerick City and County Council said it was “disappointed” with the IRE’s decision to close its doors, stating that it had made “every effort” to secure the deal.
The Council added that it was “unable to secure a viable path forward” after finding it would have had to offer up “substantial operational and capital funding” to continue the project.
A counter-offer from Mayor John Moran to use €300,000 from his Mayoral Fund to help keep the facility open for the next three years was subsequently rejected by the IRE.
IRE chief executive Barry Hannon at the time claimed that figures presented to councillors from a report around the running of the attraction were “over-inflated and were not included in the heads of agreement” both parties had agreed in principle in August 2023.
It’s understood Mr McManus will address councillors about his disappointment at how the deal turned sour and will advise about what he believes is the cost of running the building going forward.
