MAYOR of Limerick John Moran will not attend tomorrow’s private meeting between elected representatives of Limerick City and County Council and the Irish Rugby Experience.
The directly-elected Mayor personally confirmed his absence from the behind-closed-doors meeting this Wednesday evening in a statement issued to the press, citing a long-standing overseas trip.
The private workshop will take place, according to a notice on the Council’s website, Limerick.ie, at noon at County Hall in Dooradoyle on Thursday (June 26).
Limerick horse racing mogul and philanthropist JP McManus will address the elected representatives of Limerick City and County Council at the private 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.
In April 2024, it was announced that the 30,000sq/ft landmark building and its entire operations were to be gifted to Limerick City and County Council, with Discover Limerick DAC to oversee its day-to-day operations.
However, talks between representatives from the IRE and the Council fell apart in October last year.
The IRE at the time 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 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 tomorrow 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.
While the Mayor will not be in attendance at tomorrow’s discussions, he confirmed that he and other senior Council officials had separate meetings with Mr Manus and his team in recent weeks.
In his statement issued this Wednesday evening, Mayor Moran said: “I welcome our continuing discussions on the future of the International Rugby Experience and especially the upcoming workshop offered by JP (McManus) to the councillors. The timing of the workshop unfortunately clashes with a long-standing overseas trip and meetings I am attending.”
“While I cannot attend myself, I do believe it will be very helpful for JP (McManus) to meet with other councillors for everyone to share both hopes and concerns and engage in further open and constructive dialogue. I, myself, had a recent meeting with him and others of his family and team accompanied by senior officials of the Council.
“It goes without saying that we all want to find a sustainable solution to secure the building’s future and allow Limerick to benefit from the generosity of JP and Noreen and all of their family. Hopefully, this spirit of collaboration and transparency will help find a potential solution.
“I look forward to hearing the outcome of the meeting and working with all on my return to advance any proposed next steps.”
