'This is the right thing to do': Culture Minister on new national museum for Limerick

PATRICK O'Donovan has revealed it was in the midst of a storm that he began to formulate plans to bring a branch of the National Museum of Ireland to Limerick.

Just moments after being appointed the Minister for Culture by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, the Limerick TD began to think of what he could do with the former International Rugby Experience building in his home city, which had closed the Christmas previous.

It was while travelling through Storm Éowyn in January 2025 that Mr O'Donovan said he began to think about what he could do "to leave a real and lasting legacy around the areas of culture".

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"One of these things was the regionalisation of our national cultural institutions," he said.

The Fine Gael TD made the recollection this Monday as he welcomed a delegation to the former International Rugby Experience building in O'Connell Street.

He has secured the support of his Cabinet colleagues to open a branch of the National Museum of Ireland in the complex, with the McManus family agreeing to gift the building to the State in order to facilitate a permanent exhibition telling the stories of women in Ireland.

"For me, as a Limerick person, I don't think as Minister for Culture, there is any greater legacy I can leave to my home county than have a national museum here in Limerick. It's something I am really proud of and I want to thank the McManus family for the enormous genereosity to the Irish nation," he said.

"This is more than politics. This is the right thing to do for a regional city of Limerick's size and stature going forward. This city has a huge amount going for it. And for the region, for Clare, for North Tipperary, Limerick, North Cork and North Kerry this sends out a straightforward signal on behalf of Government that Government doesn't just view everything cultural through the lens of Kildare Street or Earlsfort Terrace, and we are preparerd to go outside the Pale," he said.

Kildare Street is where Dail Eireann is located in Dublin, with nearby Earlsfort Terrace seen as a national cultural hub. The Pale refers to the area in and around the capital.

Mr O'Donovan pointed out that given the former International Rugby Experience is ready to go, it saves the Government years in terms of procuring a building, securing planning permission and other items related to new cultural projects.

"You could not deliver building of this statute and this scale in anything short of 15 years. Quite frankly, I would have wanted my head examined if I had passed this up for the Irish nation and I wasn't going to do that," he said.