Limerick Mayor John Moran has committed to using €300,000 of his budget to ensure the International Rugby Experience is open to accommodate Ryder Cup visitors in 2027.
The rugby museum in Limerick city looked set to close before Christmas due to half a million euro in losses – less than a year after opening.
A meeting was held by councillors on Tuesday to save the building and protect 18 jobs it supports after news of the closure just a week before.
Fianna Fáil councillor Michael Collins told EVOKE’s sister paper the Irish Daily Mail: ‘The Mayor got his fair share of stick because this has been going on since he came into power last summer. We should have been informed of the closure sooner; it was disingenuous to say it was “up to the council to save it”.’
The building, owned by billionaire JP McManus, was rejected as a gift to the council because it could not afford the running costs. Despite a €1.2million donation from Mr McManus to defray those costs, the council called it financially unviable.
Of the new arrangement, Mayor Moran said: ‘There were a lot of people saying “you could use the mayoral fund”, and I’ve used it for lots of other things already, but I still felt it was worth squeezing that bit harder.’
At the meeting, Mr Moran said the McManus family wish to keep the facility open for the next three years so it can be enjoyed by visitors for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor.
Earlier in October, Limerick Council was accused of ‘looking a gift horse in the mouth’ by rejecting an offer to take over the International Rugby Experience building.