LIMERICK City and County Council has been urged to clean up its act around the former tourist office at Arthur’s Quay in the city.
Fine Gael councillor Sarah Kiely proposed at this Monday’s Metropolitan District meeting that the local authority take action to clean up the canopy, steel structure, and area surrounding the former tourist office.
She deemed the Council-owned site an “eyesore” and considered its canopy and metal structure “not fit for purpose”.
“It looks awful,” she told the Council executive. “Over the weekend and over the summer, we have seen some great events in our city, and with Culture Night I’m sure we have lots to look forward to.”
“We need to do better, this is a simple fix, clean it up or take it down.”
The City East representative believes that as the former is a Council property, it is a Council problem.
“There are tours getting on and off buses for the airport and they see this area and I’m sure they wonder what is happening here. It doesn’t present our city well, so can we just do something with it once and for all, please?” she implored to unanimous support in the Dooradoyle chamber.
Director of Service for the Metropolitan District, Kieran Lehane, promised to act on the request, pointing out that he “can’t disagree” with anything Cllr Kiely said.
“I’ll see if I can find a few bob from somewhere,” he added.
“You could ask the Mayor if you’re stuck,” Fianna Fáil councillor Kieran O’Hanlon hit back.
Head of Property Management Jayne Leahy said that they will investigate the level of work involved in carrying out the remediation works on the canopy and steel structures, noting that “the design and materials used in the construction of the building pose certain challenges and these need to be considered in providing any work programme”.
