Council stalls on Culture Capital cash

Galway County Council has deferred a decision to contribute €2 million to the European City of Culture project after councillors raised concerns that they couldn’t afford it.

On Monday councillors were asked to consider funding the project to the tune of €2 million, a figure which shocked some members saying they would find it hard to justify when the Local Authority didn’t have a budget to repair potholes on miles of county roads.

CEO of Galway County Council, Kevin Kelly said that they had always known there would be a financial contribution involved when they supported the bid, one that was successful last summer.

The board, of which Mr Kelly is a member, was currently filling the positions of CEO and Artistic Director, both at salaries of about €120,000, a figure he stressed, considered to be at the lower end in comparison to salaries paid elsewhere in Europe for similar jobs.

A number of councillors baulked at handing over €2 million asking if it was justified when basically the European City of Culture title for 2020 would primarily benefit the city.

Cllr Tim Broderick was one of the first to question its proposed €3 per €1 spent return during the year long duration.

“I can’t see how we can be assured of that during 2020 and will the monies have any impact on our year to year budget. When do we see a return of our investment?” he asked.

Cllr James Charity wanted a breakdown of the €12m it would cost and would it mean a €6m cost to each council?

But Cllr Michael Finnerty was much more positive saying he believed in the principle of “build it and they will come”. He proposed the Council pay the €2 million as they had committed to supporting it and couldn’t possibly pull out now.

Seconded by Cllr Frank Kearney, he hoped the organisers would give county towns their fair share as he didn’t want it just benefitting the city.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.