Call to scrap Temple Bar trust

TEMPLE BAR Cultural Trust, the body that organises cultural events in the Temple Bar area, should be abolished, according to a report commissioned by Temple Bar Traders, an organisation representing 100 businesses and groups in the city centre area.

The report, which was undertaken by Ciaran McGonigal, a former board member of the Arts Council, the National Gallery and former director of the Hunt Museum, compared Temple Bar with other areas of “cultural regeneration” in Europe, Australia, and the US.

Among the report’s recommendations are that Temple Bar should have a greater number of creative and visual artists working and living in the area; that there should be more cultural activity in the evening; and that the area should interact more with institutions such as Trinity College and City Hall.

It also suggests that a tenement museum, based on the New York Tenement Museum in lower Manhattan, should be built.

The future of Temple Bar Cultural Trust is due to be discussed at a meeting of Dublin City Council next Monday.

A report commissioned by the council earlier this year and undertaken by Latitude Consultants found that Temple Bar Cultural Trust should be wound down within two to three years.

Established 20 years ago, the trust collects rents on behalf of its 100 per cent shareholder, Dublin City Council, which it then uses to fund cultural events in the area.

The trust controls approximately 20 per cent of the business units in the Temple Bar area, with the remainder of businesses owned privately.

The Latitude report found that 40 per cent of Temple Bar trust’s €2.2 million income was spent on salaries in 2010, rising to 50 per cent in 2011.

Some €470,000 was spent on cultural activities, though the trust also subsidises cultural organisations through reduced rents.

The report recommends that the functions of the trust should transfer to Dublin City Council, with the council assuming responsibility for managing and supporting Temple Bar as a cultural quarter.

Temple Bar Traders is a representative group for businesses and cultural organisations in the Temple Bar area.

Members pay between €1,000 and €25,000 per year to fund the organisation, which organises street-cleaning for the area, markets Temple Bar internationally and organises events such as the Temple Bar TradFest.