Culture Wars in Limerick:

CULTURE WARS
BREAK OUT
IN LIMERICK

Hardly had the opening of the “Limerick City of Culture” begun on New Year’s Eve when raging controversy broke out with the resignation of Artistic Director, Karl Wallace, and the subterranean goings on at the centre of the administration of the event were slowly revealed to an astounded public. Hardly a surprise, some would say, given the city’s rambunctious politics over many decades and the combative personalities at the centre of them.

Limerick, at over 90,000 population, is the third largest urban area in the Republic of Ireland and the largest city on the West Coast of Ireland at the mouth of Ireland’s largest river, the Shannon, has featured in every major event in Irish history since its foundation early in the 9^th Century. Distinguished also as the only Irish city to establish a “Soviet” , in 1919, at the beginning of the Irish War of Independence against Great Britain which ended in 1921.

 

The current controversy centres on the reasons for Mr Wallace’s resignation and the manoeuvrings behind it only now coming to light. Mr Wallace, originally from London, was appointed to the position of Artistic Director in March of this year and was largely responsible for putting together the programme for the year of culture, which was unveiled in November. Sources have indicated that Mr Wallace, the former artistic director of the City’s Belltable Arts Centre, feels that his position has been marginalised by recent events. International programmer Jo Mangan and commissioning and legacy programmer Maeve McGrath also resigned from the project.

Mr Wallace is understood to believe he has been increasingly undermined and marginalised in recent weeks and his working relationship with Patricia Ryan, chief executive officer of Limerick National City of Culture 2014, has suffered. “While I regret making an early departure, I can no longer stand over a project that I have concerns about, concerns that have been repeatedly aired but not addressed,” Mr Wallace told the Irish Independent.

“From May onwards, I outlined the necessary staffing structure to deliver the programme including positions such as a technical manager, education and outreach advisor, operations manager. As we progressed, it was very clear that those requests were not going to be honoured and also that there was a lack of basic understanding and arts expertise of the structure that is required to make a project like this work,” he added.

ANGER AT LOCAL MEETING:

On Friday night, 03.01.14, Hundreds of people attended a public meeting to discuss the future of Limerick City of Culture following the resignation of Artistic Director and two of his programming team. The meeting, at the Clarion Hotel, was attended by members of the artistic community in Limerick and members of the City of Culture board as well as under fire CEO Patricia Ryan. Ryan carries baggage as having been a political assistant to Pat Cox, former euro-Parliament member and one-time president of the institution  and Chair of the City of Culture Board, adding to the intrigue of the situation in the public mind.

Heated discussions and angry accusations abounded at the meeting which, in publicity terms, has eclipsed the actual event opening, sadly for the city, which deserves better from its public administration. Anger was expressed in the room about Mr Wallace’s resignation, and the manner of the appointment of Ms Ryan without a public competition. She will be paid €120,000 for her 18-month contract. Ms Ryan’s salary, a spokesman said, will be €79,000 a year, or €6,580 per month for her 18-month contract. One national newspaper had speculated that the figure was closer to €170,000, which was strongly denied by Limerick city and county manager Conn Murray, who appointed her. Ms Ryan has the potential to earn a bonus of €15,000 per year if she achieves certain key performance indicators, such as bringing the project in on budget and delivering the programme as outlined. No answer was forthcoming from City Officials as to why there was no competition for the CEO’s position.

“I sat with people over Christmas who are revolted. People are looking for absolute transparency and accountability in this country, We have had enough in this country of a culture of nepotism and cronyism,” City Councillor Tom Shortt told the meeting.

Many said they had no confidence in the the chief executive, the board or the chairman and there was a large show of hands after calls were made for Ms Ryan to resign.

“We had a good person in Karl Wallace because he came through a proper process of recruitment. The CEO did not come through a similar process,” Mr Shortt claimed.

Dr John Greenwood, chairman of Professional Limerick Art Network, told the meeting there was no confidence in the board. “As a gesture to the city, Patricia Ryan should step down as CEO and an artistic co-ordinator and team be put immediately in place to help deliver Karl Wallace’s vision,” he said.

In her first public comment since Mr Wallace’s resignation, Ms Ryan insisted she would “very much like to continue working” with the City of Culture. “I have never claimed to have an artistic or cultural background. My job is not to provide the artistic direction,” she said. When asked by a member of the public what she would bring to the table, she replied: “I would like to bring the project management to the table. The artistic direction is for another team and I hope we will be in a position to move on very quickly from this.”

Mr Cox insisted he had nothing to do with the appointment of Ms Ryan, his former adviser, to the position of chief executive. Mr Cox also dismissed suggestions his appointment was a political one and said he has never sought to abuse his “privilege” as chairman. “I have never solicited that any specific thing be done. Integrity and values matter to me – I insist that at no stage did I seek the appointment of any person.”

Limerick city and county manager Conn Murray told the meeting that in his 34 years as a public servant, he had never had his integrity questioned.

Nevertheless, Cox in an earlier interview on local radio revealed that his Board of Limerick City of Culture requested Limerick City Council to carry out “performance review” of Karl Wallace’s work following a meeting late last year. He said the board had a “very lengthy meeting” in early December, during which a number of issues were raised, including a performance review of Karl Wallace’s work to date.

He said Mr Wallace’s resignation followed a performance review requested by the board, after which he claimed Mr Wallace failed to attend follow-up meetings due to sick leave and holiday leave.  “The board asked that Limerick Corporation, as the employer of the artistic director, because Karl Wallace is an employee of City Hall, would undertake a performance review of the artistic director and his work over the period, and that that performance review would then be discussed with the artistic director.

“Such a review was undertaken. For a combination of reasons, to do with holiday leave and sick leave, the artistic director was not in a position to make himself available through the month of December when these issues were raised with him to discuss any of the matters, with any of the personnel who would be relevant to such discussions, and he subsequently decided on his own part to submit a resignation. I think it’s dated December 30, submitted to Limerick Corporation.

“In the light of the discussions that the board had and the many issues that were considered by the board, a performance review was requested and one was carried out. I am not familiar with the internal details of that, but I am aware that meetings were sought between the employer and Karl Wallace, and that those meetings did not take place.”

He said the performance view was carried out by the human resources/personnel department in Limerick City Council. Mr Cox also insisted that he will not be resigning from his voluntary position. “I know there are those who would like to see me fold in the face of criticism but I am determined to see this through.”

A further public meeting is due to take place next week.

 

This is typical gobbledegook from the likes of Cox, a right wing ideologue of the now defunct “Progressive Democrats” which arose in the 1980’s as a focus of Thatcherism/Neo Liberalism in Irish politics and promoted the de-regulation and privatisation programmes which led to the country’s worst economic crisis ever in 2008, which we are still paying for while Cox enjoys luxury living with his hefty Euro-Parliament pension and consultancy fees from his monopoly cronies.

The main rumour circulating currently is that Ryan, as she says, with no artistic background, countered a performance approved by Wallace which gave a voice to teenagers from one of the impoverished areas of the city (and some here are the worst in the State) as “not the image we want to promote” leading to the breakdown of relations which resulted in the resignations. We can see here that “Culture” as viewed by bourgeois dilletantes like Ryan and Cox is the media sanitised version and nothing to do with the reality of the lives of many citizens of Limerick who are forced to suffer the indignities of unemployment and deprivation under the policies of austerity now being imposed across Europe as a result of the failed policies of neo-liberalism.