€500k art project earmarked for Limerick street is kicked to the ‘curve’

QUESTIONS are being asked over the presence of a curve on the redesigned O’Connell Street in Limerick city after a €500,000 art project was shelved.

Artists had been invited to submit ideas for an installation at the Thomas Street junction with the main thoroughfare.

However, it emerged this week the plans for the display will not go ahead for now, with council bosses deciding the entries “did not meet the quality standard”.

It means the half-a-million euro allocated to the scheme will not be spent for the time being.

Local authority architect Seamus Hanrahan confirmed the news following questions at this month’s metropolitan meeting from Cllr Dan McSweeney.

Many councillors had suggested a much discussed ‘curve’, or ‘chicane’ in O’Connell Street – which up to recently had run in a straight line – was to facilitate the installation.

https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/local-news/667047/plans-revealed-to-build-giant-newton-s-prism-in-limerick.html 

Mr Hanrahan insisted the chicane is included “as a traffic method to try and reduce speed”, adding: “It has the benefit of creating additional space for an art installation”.

But Cllr McSweeney said: “I don’t buy this”, while his City West colleague, Cllr James Collins, described the chicane as “ridiculous” and something “which everyone ignores.”

“Limerick has a unique grid system. This is the core, our main street. It was designed to be long and straight. We’ve changed that to put in an artistic installation. It’s going to be the cause of I don’t know how many accidents on our main street and its frankly ridiculous,” said the former mayor.

Cllr McSweeney said an art project is “something we need to give a focal point to the city centre, and this prism, or another piece of artwork could have represented that focal point.”

There was criticism of the council’s executive for not sharing news of their decision on the shelving of the project sooner.

District leader Cllr Olivia O’Sullivan said: “We shouldn’t be learning this today. I don’t know why this is new information to us and why we would not have been informed.”