PROBLEMS during the running of Limerick City of Culture were known to the Minister for Arts Jimmy Deenihan but he has admitted that he did not think it would lead to the resignations of the artistic director Karl Wallace and the programme’s CEO Patricia Ryan.
Speaking at the opening of the Haselbeck Collection at City Hall this week, Minister Deenihan said that he was “well informed” but that he did not think there would be resignations from two key positions.
“I did say on one occasion I was reading a lot reports about City of Culture in the paper which is true. There was a lot of leaked documentation and briefing of the press outside my department… We new there were problems there but certainly never thought they were going to result in resignations,” he added.
Minister Deenihan’s comments came after the initial weeks of Limerick’s reign as the national City of Culture was shroud in controversy following the departure of Karl Wallace and the besieged CEO Patricia Ryan.
A closer eye on the programme will be kept by Minister Deenihan who said that he wants it to succeed.
“I want this to succeed I think it’s very important that it does succeed,” he said.
It is understood, according to Minister Deenihan, that private investors are coming forward to assist in the running of the programme in the city together with the €6m allocation from Government.
The Haselbeck Collection, which was launched this week by Minister Deenihan, is regarded as one of the country’s most important private photographic collections.
