Galway City Council insists there is no 2020 cash crisis

Galway City Tribune – There is no cash crisis at the heart of the city’s capital of culture project, the chief executive of Galway City Council has insisted.

Brendan McGrath confirmed there was a delay in the payment of €250,000 from the City Council to Galway 2020. But he stressed this was due to unforeseen circumstances and not a policy of withholding payment.

“There’s no fallout, there’s no disagreement, there’s no holding back of funding . . . There isn’t (a crisis) genuinely. I don’t know where that’s coming from,” said Mr McGrath.

The comments come as a Galway City councillor said he is “very worried” that a local government auditor has “raised concerns” about the apportioned costs of Galway 2020. Separately, a Galway senator has also highlighted fears about value for money and oversight of the project.

Speaking to the Galway City Tribune, Mr McGrath confirmed that €250,000 owed by the City Council to Galway 2020, which was due to be paid in December, will be in the company’s bank account this Friday morning.

“There’s no funding crisis, genuinely. What there was, was the Board (of Galway 2020) pointed out that unless they got the City Council money, they’d be running short of funds by the end of February, but that’s not the case now as the funding is going through,” he said.

Mr McGrath rejected as “completely untrue” a suggestion that the City Council was withholding funding until such time as Galway County Council paid its share of the costs of the bid for Galway 2020.

Councillor Pádraig Conneely (FG) said he is “very concerned” about statements by auditors, who have flagged issues with funding of Galway 2020. He cited a 2016 local government audit, which highlighted an “unfunded balance of €300,000”. “The Council needs to identify a funding source for this balance,” the auditor said.
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