Council agrees to purchase former home of Mary Robinson

Anton McNulty

Mayo County Council has voted to go ahead with the purchase of the family home of former Irish President Mary Robinson for use as Ireland’s first presidential library.
The decision to purchase the building was made at last week’s meeting of Mayo County Council, with only three of the councillors voting against the proposal. It is understood the council will pay about €510,000 for Victoria House, currently owned by Mary Robinson’s brother, Adrian Bourke.
The project will cost a total of €5.1 million, with the Council contributing €1.5 million, the Government providing an additional grant of €2 million and the balance of €1.5 million to come from philanthropic sources.
The €5.1 million covers the cost of the house and offices, their redevelopment and fit out, the digitising of the Robinson archive at NUI Galway and an exhibition at the Ballina centre.

‘Lead balloon’
The decision to purchase the building has come in for some criticism. Detractors include Ballina-based councillor Gerry Ginty, who after initially being in favour of the project, described it as a vanity project. He also said the decision to house the archive in Galway was a ‘stab in the back’ for rate-payers in the town.
“If we want to have memorials to the living in this country, the people who want to erect those memorials and bask in the glow of them should stump up the cost out of their own pocket. Especially when they have fine deep pockets and have no bother getting money. I don’t see why the people of Ballina and Mayo should pay for what is in effect a vanity project.
“The whole thing revolves around Mayo County Council buying a house from the brother of ex-president Robinson, and I say that without any fear or contradiction. That hasn’t gone down well in Ballina; it has gone down like a lead balloon. A lot of rate-payers don’t see why they should [fund the purchase] while they are struggling to keep their doors open … It does not have the support of anything like the majority of people in Ballina,” he said.
The decision to purchase the house was deferred earlier in the year to allow it to be discussed at a meeting of the Ballina Municipal District, which subsequently passed the motion to purchase it.
Fine Gael councillor John O’Hara proposed that the house be purchased. The proposal was supported by Cllr Neil Cruise, who said it would be good for Ballina.
Chief Executive of Mayo County Council Peter Hynes disputed the suggestion that it was a ‘vanity project’, arguing its educational merits. He said the project would build on the legacy of someone who has made a global contribution to two areas of vital importance — climate change and women’s’ leadership.
He said the digitised archives would be available to view in the Ballina Centre and the benefit of not housing the archive in Ballina meant the total cost of the project had been reduced from €8.5 million.
Mr Hynes said the next step would be to prepare the project for tender by the end of the year.