Fears for Turlough Park’s future resurface

ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL ASSET The Museum of Country Life employs more than 40 people.

Edwin McGreal

Local councillors have expressed fears about the future of the National Museum of Country Life at Turlough Park. The pulling of the facility’s successful Féile na Tuaithe this year has been cited as one of the many worrying factors.
The councillors’ concerns were aired during last Thursday’s meeting of Castlebar Municipal District of Mayo County Council, after Tony Candon, Manager-Keeper at the National Museum of Country Life, gave an update on the facility.
At the outset, Mr Candon told councillors that ‘despite what you might have read locally or nationally’, the closure of the Museum of Country Life in Turlough was ‘never, ever a consideration of the National Museum of Ireland’.
In September, 2014 The Mayo News reported of fears for Turlough Park’s future due to funding issues following a meeting of the board of the National Museum of Ireland.
Mr Candon went on to say that ‘I hope what I say (in his presentation) will put your minds at ease’, and he described the Museum of Country Life as a ‘story of ongoing development’. He went on to give a lengthy presentation on the museum’s history in Mayo since its opening in 2001 and on plans for the future.
However, when the presentation was over, Cllrs Al McDonnell and Cyril Burke expressed serious concerns.

Unconvinced
“I was looking forward to a permanent reassurance today Tony. The lack of specifics in your presentation and your unconvincing argument is a source of further concern to me,” said Cllr McDonnell (Fianna FΡil).
“Turlough Park is the biggest tourist attraction in this municipal district. This [presentation], coupled with concerns over GMIT, could lead to a very gloomy future for Castlebar. We will fight for both,” added Cllr McDonnell.
Cllr Cyril Burke (Fine Gael) took issue with Mr Candon’s presentation and the museum on a number of points.
“I’m concerned that too many things are being seen as a challenge and not an opportunity. I’ve had conversations with people involved. Like any business, the museum is about having a product and the second part of that is getting people in to see the museum. I’m concerned visitors are not pushing as open a door as it should be.
“Féile [na Tuaithe] has been more than successful, and I have grave concerns about the fact that it has been pulled and about the effect this will have on visitor numbers.
“I’m also concerned that people who run a falconry business who approached the Museum about running falconry at the museum have instead moved elsewhere … That could have brought greater numbers to the museum,” said Cllr Burke, adding: “The museum had no marketing person for 18 months. That should have been brought to our attention.”
Cllr McDonnell was critical of the fact that no major exhibition is planned for the museum in 2017, as well as cuts in curatorial staff and the lack of an agricultural curator. He added that the decision to locate the museum in Mayo was met with ‘outright resistance’ by the board of the National Museum in the mid 1990s, and he praised Taoiseach Enda Kenny, then the Minister for Tourism and Trade, for ‘using his good offices at the time’ to secure the location in Mayo.
Cllr Michael Kilcoyne (Independent) criticised the fact that councillors first heard about the cancellation of May’s Féile na Tuaithe at last Thursday’s meeting, while Mayo County Council Chief Executive Peter Hynes had been told last autumn.
“It wouldn’t be the first time he [Hynes] failed to pass on concerns within our remit,” Cllr Kilcoyne replied.

‘Victim of its own success’
Responding to criticisms, Mr Candon thanked the councillors for their ‘very constructive and very helpful’ comments.
He said that the cancelling of Féile na Tuaithe, which attracted close to 30,000 visitors some years, was due to resources, both in terms of finances and staff. Earlier, he said the Féile na Tuaithe was ‘distorting other activities’ and that ‘other areas are seen as a higher priority within the museum, and I’d agree with this’.
He described the event as ‘a victim of its own success’, and said the grounds were operating at breaking point when 28,000 visitors turned up two years ago.
He said that the museum co-funded Féile na Tuaithe with Mayo County Council for three years, a term that ended in 2016. He added that while it would not run this May, it might return in 2018, though not in the same format.
Mr Candon also said that the government moratorium on recruitment had prevented positions being filled, but that this was changing, and a new marketing officer has been in place since Christmas.
Replying to councillors, he said that the National Museum ‘as a whole was threatened with closure’, as its budget allocation was ‘not adequate’ in recent years, but it received ‘just enough’ Government funding to prevent it from becoming insolvent.
“We have been struggling over the last number of years,” he admitted, but added that the facility has provided a boost to the area since it opened as a National Museum in 2001.
Conceding that no major exhibition is planned for 2017, he said ‘I haven’t the staff’. He stated that he had requested more staff to facilitate such an exhibition, but his request was not approved.
In his earlier presentation, Mr Candon told the councillors that the museum employs more than 40 people, including museum staff and contracted catering, security, cleaning and gardening personnel.

Scottish consultants
Since opening in 2001, 1.7 million people have visited the National Museum of Country Life. Last year saw 107,000 visitors, but that constituted a drop of 12,000 from 2015.
According to Candon, 62 percent of visitors are from the Republic of Ireland, 16 percent are from the UK and 8 percent are from the USA.
With regards to the future, Mr Candon said the museum is working with FΡilte Ireland to be  included as a destination along the Wild Atlantic Way. Plans are also afoot to make the main house more accessible and to improve the entrance to the galleries building.
Upcoming major exhibitions included a temporary exhibition on Traveller life and culture for 12 months from the summer of 2018, as well as a 12-month temporary exhibition the following year on rural electrification.
Scottish consultants have been engaged by the National Museum to oversee a master plan for the next 15 years. Some of the recommendations include additional car parking; a new temporary exhibition space; office space for staff; a lunchroom for school children; and moving the entire National Folk Collection to proposed new buildings at Turlough Park (currently some of the collection is located in Offaly, due to capacity constraints at Turlough Park).