Kerry council row erupts following allegation of ‘misuse’ of funding for Áras Phádraig project
The KerrymanA furore broke out in a Kerry County Council (KCC) this week, as a councillor accused other elected members of the “misuse” of public funds for redevelopment of the Áras Phádraig site.
Councillor Tommy Griffin labelled the rejection of the nearly €1m plans for the complex as a “misuse” of funds, though he later withdrew the comment.
“Other projects were deprived of funding because that project won the funding,” he said, while questioning the “reputational damage” that the decision had cost the council in relation to national funding schemes.
“Its money that’s spent, the project is not going ahead and questions have to be asked. I’m asking what projects have missed out as a result of this,” said Cllr Griffin.
Killarney Municipal District (MD) councillors, who took the decision to reject the plans in July, were unanimous in their condemnation of Cllr Griffin’s allegation of “misuse”.
Councillor Maura Healy-Rae said it was a “very serious” accusation to make and asked Cllr Griffin to clarify if it was directed at the elected members or the council itself.
“He clearly does not know the intricacies, the history, the context, the change that appeared for us as councillors that we had to act upon. We are the best informed because we are the people that have involved at each stage of the process,” said Cllr Healy-Rae.
“Instead of trying to cast aspersions and create negativity around what is a very important project for us and region, that maybe he would be better informed...I would ask him to be helpful as opposed to being unhelpful.”
Just over €867,000 was spent on redevelopment plans after the Killarney MD voted through the €47m plans for a theatre and primary care centre at the Áras Phádraig site in February.
A technical error on the council’s part, however, led to some public submissions being omitted from the February meeting, and the project was forced to go before the public again in April.
Opposition grew, with most of the submissions opposing the plans, citing the size of the theatre and the suitability of the site for a primary care centre. There were also concerns raised around traffic congestion.
Following another council vote in July, Killarney MD members reversed their support for the project, saying they would instead seek a library and administrative offices along with a larger theatre.
At this week’s meeting, Councillor John O’Donoghue rejected Cllr Griffin’s questioning of “reputational damage” and praised elected members for their courage in turning down the plans.
They [the funds] have not been misused, they’ve just not been used yet, and to say otherwise is scurrilous,” said Cllr O’Donoghue.
“I think we should actually commend councillors for realising that there was mistake that had been made and stepping in before millions were spent to rectify the mistake. In the history of our country over the last decade there’s numerous examples of where colossal money has been spent by the public sector on things where it has been evident from very early on that this was a mistake, and they continue on regardless.
“I think its actually that our reputation has been enhanced. The easy thing to do would have been to let it continue in. We made the difficult decision and saved the county coffers a lot of money.”
Killarney MD councillor Brendan Cronin echoed Cllr O’Donoghue’s comments, emphasising the constructive outcome of events.
“We were faced with a huge dilemma. New information did comes to us…and that changed the scenario for us,” said Cllr Cronin.
“The negative commentary is not accurate…the new proposal will be far more in keeping with a theatre which was the goal of a every elected member…maybe we were wise in one sense because we could have done irreversible damage.”
While Cllr Griffin did not accept that the plans could be repurposed and said they would have to drawn up from scratch again, Cllr Healy-Rae said, “nothing had been lost” and the project had not been shelved.
The rejected plans, totalling €47m, contained a €5m contribution from KCC, with €16m earmarked by the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) and the rest promised by the HSE for the medical services.
The council was told during the key July vote that there was no guarantee that the URDF would agree to a new proposal. Killarney town manager said the investment would have returned around €133m for the region and warned, along with the council’s director of services, Frank Hartnett, that a new proposal would have to be drawn up.
The Áras Phádraig complex has lain dormant since 2009 when the Franciscan friars donated the 2,623 square metre site, including an old-style theatre, to the people of Killarney. However, complications with the Charity Regulator meant the redevelopment was stalled for nearly 15 years. At the close of 2022, redevelopment was approved with inclusion of a HSE primary care unit within the project described by a council officer at the time as a “intricate part of the funding.”
Even then councillors had concerns about the involvement of HSE, with many feeling the body had enough land lying idle in the town already. Funded by Local Democracy Reporting scheme