Council to review role of Temple Bar trust

THE FUTURE of Temple Bar Cultural Trust as a distinct commercial entity has been thrown into question following the decision by Dublin city manager John Tierney to initiate a review.

The decision was taken after Monday’s meeting of Dublin City Council at which councillor Mannix Flynn tabled a motion to move Temple Bar Cultural Trust under the direct control of Dublin City Council.

Mr Tierney will present the report to the council in June. Dermot McLaughlin, chief executive of the trust, who attended the meeting, said he believes the councillors felt they did not have necessary information and judged the motion to be premature.

He added that the trust will “co-operate fully in ensuring that the council receives accurate information and facts on the company, its work, its achievements and its future plans”.

The trust is an independent entity whose main shareholder is Dublin City Council. It evolved from Temple Bar Properties, which was founded during the regeneration of the Temple Bar area of Dublin in the early 1990s.

The trust’s primary source of income is rent from properties in the Temple Bar area.

It organises cultural events such as Culture Night, Messiah on the Street and the Temple Bar Food Market and Designer Mart, as well as managing buildings and public spaces in the area that are used for artists, audiences and arts organisations.

The trust has been involved in a number of high-profile rent disputes in recent months. The manager of music venue the Button Factory, which entered examinership last month, cited excessive rents as one of the reasons behind the venue’s financial troubles.

The decision by Mr Tierney to initiate a review of the trust follows Fine Gael’s pledge to merge Temple Bar Cultural Trust and Dublin City Council.

Speaking at the meeting on Monday night, Dublin Lord Mayor Gerry Breen called for a “shake-up” of the board of the trust. Highlighting the importance of corporate governance to subsidiaries of Dublin City Council, he said many of the members had been on the board too long.

The trust is governed by a board of directors appointed by the city manager of Dublin City Council. The 12-member board includes a number of councillors, including Mr Flynn. Matt McNulty is chairman.

Mr Flynn said yesterday he believed that the council should have a more active and direct role to play in the management of the property portfolio managed by the trust.

“We are now approaching the twentieth anniversary of the Temple Bar project. I feel that we are coming to a juncture where we should reassess the role of the trust.”

Accounts filed for Temple Bar Cultural Trust Limited show that a charge was created by Ulster Bank over property on Sycamore Street and the Urbana building in Temple Bar last November.

The trust is engaged in developing a canopy in Meeting House Square, at a cost of approximately €2 million, which would allow events to take place in the area year-round.