Mayo councillors demand action on 'white elephant' Mary Robinson Centre

MAYO County Council has been urged to ensure that the future of the Mary Robinson Centre is secured in 2025 after it was described as a 'white elephant...sitting idle' in Ballina.

The future of the Mary Robinson Centre in Ballina was raised at Monday's monthly meeting of Mayo County Council where concerns were raised if the Victoria House Foundation will have the finances to deliver on their side of the project.

It is proposed to turn the building into a US-style presidential library to include an interactive visitor centre, an events space and an academic research facility. The plan for the centre was originally proposed by Mary Robinson herself and a charitable foundation, the Victoria House Foundation, was set up to drive the idea.

However, Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn raised concerns regarding the finances of the Victoria House Foundation and what will happen to the building if the funds are not there to complete it.

“If you look at the most recent accounts received last Friday, you can see the financial situation of the foundation has deteriorated quite significantly. They are still classified as a going concern but I would question if that is still the case.

“They have now a significant bank overdraft and significant creditors and they don't recognise the €800,000 debt to Mayo County Council. They have raised over €1 million towards the building but only €300,000 of that has made its way to Mayo County Council,” he commented.

The centre is to be located in Victoria House, the childhood home of the former President of Ireland, which was purchased by Mayo County Council for the purposes of delivering the project.

The audit report of the Annual Financial Statement (AFS) of Mayo County Council outlined that overall cost of this project is expected to amount to approximately €5.3million, excluding fit out costs which have yet to be completed.

The report stated that the committed income sources for this project to date include €2 million in funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Gaeltacht (DCHG) of which €1.74m has been received to date towards the construction phase and €1.1m from the Mary Robinson Foundation/Community Group of which €300,000 has been received to date. The remaining €250,000 from the DCHG grant is allocated towards the fit-out.

In a response to issues raised by the auditor, Kevin Kelly Chief Executive of Mayo County Council stated that the council remains in dialogue with the Mary Robinson Foundation in respect of the funding and fit-out and work will continue in this regard to facilitate the opening of the facility. He added that work was undertaken on the coach house element in 2024 by the Foundation and a number of events took place in this area of the development.

Cllr Flynn added that the council will have to figure out in 2025 what they are to do with the building to ensure the doors are opened to the public.

“In 2025 we have to determine what the future of that building is and we cannot allow it to sit idle for another year without knowing what the end game is and how we get the doors open. I don't want to start a debate about what is in it and what's not in it and what's planned to be in it but we need to figure out how it is going to work.

“Looking at the financial statement of the Victoria House Foundation they are not in a position to deliver on any particular use of that building. As the ones who have significantly invested in it, the obligation sits with Mayo County Council to push this forward and work with our government and the partners who are funding it and figure out what is the solution for it.

“It is a crying shame for a building in such a beautiful location and a beautiful building in itself that nothing is being done and it is clear that something needs to be done with it,” he said.

Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Loftus echoed Cllr Flynn's sentiments and described the building in its current stance as a 'white elephant'.

“We need to do something in relation to it. It is a white elephant and it is going nowhere unless we take action in relation to it.

“We need to do something to get it up and running. It is sitting there idle.”