THE International Rugby Experience in Limerick City is the latest victim of ill-thought-out redesign in the city centre.
That’s according to a committee member of the Limerick City Centre Business Association (LCCBA), who claimed that the redesign of O’Connell Street, coupled with the lack of parking, is destroying footfall in the city.
“If the Rugby Experience was located in Thomond Park, I believe it would survive,” Shane Gleeson, whose family have been in business in the city for 60 years, told the Limerick Post.
“It’s a beautiful building and a marvellous addition to the centre, but where do you park a tour bus, even temporarily, to bring people to it?
“We have less and less parking in the city. There should have been a huge adjacent carpark provided before all of the cycle and bus lanes and pedestrianisation,” said the veteran retailer, who runs a number of Spar stores across Limerick.
“The city upgrade was designed by engineers in ivory towers who know nothing about the realities of trade and the Rugby Experience is just another example of how this is damaging the city centre.”
It has been confirmed that an offer from Mayor John Moran to use his mayoral fund to prop up the International Rugby Experience (IRE) has been rejected.
Mayor Moran at a special meeting of Limerick City and County Council last week pledged €100,000 per year for the next three years towards keeping the tourist attraction open after it was announced that it would close for good on December 23.
However it is understood that the IRE confirmed in an exchange of letters that it has declined Mayor Moran’s €100,000 offer and would be disengaging with the local authority on the transfer of the building and its operations.
The IRE also expressed concern over “misplaced commentary” on the performance of the tourist attraction on social media and described the events of the last few weeks as “damaging for the International Rugby Experience and for Limerick in general”.
The IRE also asserted in written communication with the Council that its financial performance of late has been consistent with expectations projected back in 2016.
It is understood the IRE is now considering the future of the building without the involvement of the Council, whatever form that may take.
‘One more site of dereliction’
LCCBA committee member Shane Gleeson said that the footfall the IRE could bring will be a big loss to the city, and to trade in particular.
The businessman said that the tourist attraction “just does not seem to have the critical mass needed to sustain itself”.
“The city traders would love to see it succeed and we would do anything we can to help that happen. Otherwise, we have a beautiful building which becomes one more site of dereliction and that’s the last thing O’Connell Street needs.”
Speaking to Limerick’s Live 95, Mayor Moran said his €100,000 offer remains on the table following the rejection from the IRE.
“My thoughts are with the families, the staff that are working there, and how we can actually find a solution that keeps the museum open. And the offer remains”, he told the local radio station.
The Mayor said that it would be wise to “think of the bigger picture” as regards the future of the IRE.
Keeping the experience open for the next three years, he said, “allows us time to deal with all of the many other issues that the people know we’ve been talking about”.
“It just parks all of those issues nicely for a period that allowed us to all get back to, well, essentially not having the museum closed after Christmas.”
It is understood that 18 jobs will be lost of the landmark building and tourist attraction closes its current operation.
‘Reimagined costs’
It was announced in April that the IRE was to be gifted to Limerick by the JP McManus Charitable Foundation, and run in its day-to-day operations by Discover Limerick DAC.
However, a statement on behalf of the tourist attraction the week before last confirmed that negotiations between the Foundation and Limerick City and County Council over the handover of the building had reached a standstill.
The multi-million euro IRE was first opened in May 2023, described as the brainchild of billionaire JP McManus and fronted by Munster Rugby legend Paul O’Connell.
In an interview with presenter Joe Nash on Live 95 radio, IRE CEO Barry Hannon said that there had been numerous meetings with independent experts called in to examine the costings of the building’s handover.
These costings had been agreed in principal between the board and the Council on August 23, so, Mr Hannon told Live95, the board was very surprised to learn that councillors had been informed there would be a further €6.2m to be paid out.
The figures presented to councillors included the cost of stamp duty, VAT, redundancy payments and “reimagined costs”, which Mr Hannon claimed were “over-inflated and were not included in the heads of agreement” both parties had seen in August.
At a Council meeting last week to discuss the future of the attraction, Council Deputy Director General Gordon Daly explained that additional information presented to councillors was so they have a view of “a full financial impact of the report on the Council and the budgetary implications”.
