The Limerick City Manager, the Chair of Limerick City council, and all of the Limerick City Councilors have to be held accountable for this amateurish situation. I sincerely hope that the councilors are presenting emergency motions and are meeting around the clock to resolve this issue. They are the ones who are ultimately responsible.
Limerick shouldn’t be singled out for ridicule as a result of the failures of those whose job it is to make sure things are done correctly, above board and within best practice and principal. All the guidelines are there. All the protocols are there and all the corporate governance legislation and law is there. It would seem they departed or had indeed wreckless disregard for these procedures in their appointment of certain individuals without going through the proper recruitment procedures.
It is simply mind-boggling that a person with no experience in the Arts was given a plum job by the Limerick City Manager and endorsed by the Chairman of the City of Culture committee. Their contempt is shameless. Who do these people think they are? They ask for our trust, we give it to them and they behave appallingly and cause enormous damage to the great people of Limerick and their fantastic city. These kinds of people are not unique to Limerick. The same controversies can be found in the more recent Derry/LondonDerry City of Culture and indeed more closer to home our own scandalous and corrupted Temple Bar Cultural Trust. A company, that is now to be wound down as a result of its bad practices. The loss is to the City of Dublin and to the Temple Bar area itself and to all artists everywhere. After all, this was meant to be the outstanding ‘Cultural Quarter’ and it would appear it was just one big gravy train. Certain grubby, greedy arts managers and administrators hell bent on furthering their own egomaniacal careers and stuffing their own pockets at the expense of the public and indeed the many thousands of struggling artists.
We need to expose the culture of these wrongs and confront these kinds of practices. The courageous individuals who took the decision to resign as a way of challenging these similar kinds of practices has to be commended. Maybe now we are going places. We’re confronting our politicians, we’re confronting the clergy, we’re confronting the Banks, now we’re confronting ‘Cultural Gangland’ and its elites.
I wish Limerick city and its people the very best and I have no doubt that the courage of the Limerick artistic community will get to the bottom of this and bring a sense of transparency, clarity, fairness and accountability – plus consequences for those found wanting. Controversy is not a bad way to start a cultural event. You have our attention. So far so good!
Madge, Kathleen and Laura Daly, Limerick City
Mannix Flynn 