Council reveals how much Mayor John Moran has spent to clean up former Limerick tourist office

LIMERICK City and County Council says it is “keeping an open mind” on the future use of the former tourist office at Arthur’s Quay Park.

With council having acquired the complex, some €150,000 of Mayor John Moran’s funding has been spent on essential works, and these are set to continue into this year.

A deep clean has taken place at the site, while 15 leaks have been shored up.

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Elsewhere, walls have been knocked to provide an accessible toilet.

“The objective is to deliver a weather-tight, dry building with certified ESB basic electric to allow ESB reconnection, enabling the building to be put back into use,” head of property Jayne Leahy told members of the metropolitan district.

Social Democrats councillor Shane Hickey-O’Mara saw a notice of motion passed at last month’s meeting which called for it to be used as a venue for the city which would include community and co-working spaces.

Doing this, he said, would keep alive the memory of the late and very much missed Lesley-Anne Liddane, who ran the Chez Le Fab cafe in that venue until its closure on New Year’s Eve 2018.

She sadly passed away in 2020.

“We really need a central space to welcome people to our amazing city and you couldn’t ask for a better space than this one.

This building has long been a space synonymous with welcoming people, most recently as Chez Le Fab, a community and arts cafe run by the late Lesley-Anne Liddane who created a true community space for the city centre. Not only did Lesley-Anne create a space that welcomed everyone, she also acted as an incredible advocate for the city’s arts workers, myself included,” Cllr Hickey-O’Mara added.

Having visited Britain recently, the northside councillor said he came across many community co-working spaces there.
“It was actually amazing to see how normalised this is in the UK. I was particularly inspired by Common Ground, a social co-work and community arts space in the centre of Oxford, which was choc-a-bloc full of workers and had such a friendly, welcoming energy,” he added.

The building at Arthur’s Quay Park, which ceased to be a tourist information centre in 2015, has been mooted as a potential ‘Welcome to Limerick’ office, giving visitors to the city a one-stop shop for local information.

However, Ms Leahy has said while this may still happen, there are other uses in the mix.

“We are keeping an open mind regarding other potential uses which will benefit the city centre. It should be remembered that the space is limited and Limerick City and County Council has many other buildings in the city centre - for example the recently repaired 58 O’Connell Street, Engine, Istabraq Hall and others which might be better suited for community and for co-working, especially Engine and the yet-to-be developed design and fashion hubs in Nicholas Street and Mary Street,” she said.

Cllr Hickey-O’Mara’s motion was seconded by party colleague, Cllr Elisa O’Donovan.