New arthouse cinema (Pálás)

serfboard

Has the comptroller and Auditor General looked into this yet, considering the seeming waste of large amounts of public money?

Storm 10

Imagine all the badly needed houses the City Council could have built with all the wasted money they threw at it.

Would Rhatigans still go back there with this new controversial news

jkforde

what are the criteria for opening a financial fraud or criminal investigation?... do the Guards's Fraud Office have to be instructed by DPP or what?l how do we put up with this level of either incompetence or criminality?

Thargor

Wonder what sort of money all those directors in the charity link are on?

Raging_Ninja

jkforde wrote: »

what are the criteria for opening a financial fraud or criminal investigation?... do the Guards's Fraud Office have to be instructed by DPP or what?l how do we put up with this level of either incompetence or criminality?

"We" don't do anything. The Charity Regulator will do it's investigation and we'll see what they say. I imagine that if they find something really wrong, they'll then bring in the gardaí.

Mrs OBumble

Storm 10 wrote: »

Imagine all the badly needed houses the City Council could have built with all the wasted money they threw at it.

It was funded from Arts money, not Housing money. The limited building of social housing was due to deliberate decisions not to fund that.

Topgear on Dave

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

It was funded from Arts money, not Housing money. The limited building of social housing was due to deliberate decisions not to fund that.

It is all coming out of the same pot though isnt it?

nuac

serfboard wrote: »

Has the comptroller and Auditor General looked into this yet, considering the seeming waste of large amounts of public money?

This is mainly a local authority project, so it would be subject to the audit of the LG auditor. That is published each year. Ratepayers can write in on matters that concern them.

Most of the funding seems to come from public funds thru various organisations. Very little from the Galway business community.

Mrs OBumble

Topgear on Dave wrote: »

It is all coming out of the same pot though isnt it?

I'm pretty sure that local authorities don't just get a lump of money to spend how-so-ever they like: Budgets are approved for specific purposes, and need to be used for those purposes not for others.

Decisions about which specific arts projects are funded or which specific social houses are built are up to the local council. But at a high level, they are not free to just move money from one area to another without approval.

nuac

I think Topgear's point is that most of the funding here comes from the tax payer. The fact that it is spent under various headings - or programmes as they are called nowadays - doesn't excuse this massive commitment of public money to a minority interest for some cinema lovers

How many people have put their own money into this?

Mrs OBumble

nuac wrote: »

...doesn't excuse this massive commitment of public money to a minority interest for some cinemaw luvvies.

His point was that the money could have been used to build social houses.

Mine was simply that the money couldn't have just been transferred from Arts projects to social housing.

Not disagreeing that it's taxpayer's money, or that I disagree with some of the priorities of the government for it's money.



The "cinemaw luvvies" jib is a whole different story though. I wonder how much council resources goes into maintaining sporting facilities for people who have nothing better to do with their time than chase a ball up and down a field? I could call those people names, too. But I refrain from typing them here, because it's just rude to do so.

nuac

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

His point was that the money could have been used to build social houses.

Mine was simply that the money couldn't have just been transferred from Arts projects to social housing.

Not disagreeing that it's taxpayer's money, or that I disagree with some of the priorities of the government for it's money.



The "cinemaw luvvies" jib is a whole different story though. I wonder how much council resources goes into maintaining sporting facilities for people who have nothing better to do with their time than chase a ball up and down a field? I could call those people names, too. But I refrain from typing them here, because it's just rude to do so.

OK, happy with my amendment to "cinema lovers"?

Still imho it a huge amount of money for a minority interest.

nuac

On RTE 1 now, Prime Time discussing deal with ELement.
Says Charities Regulator concerned at proposed transfer to private operator
Regulator unhappy about transfer to Element
"significant concerns"
but funding continuing!
Tax payer in the hole here for about €9 million.
Some time now since Solas auditor resigned. No news that he has been replaced.

Chain Smoker

Yeesh, I've been checking in on this every few months since I left galway and it's crazy how little progress of any kind seems to occur amidst the various news stories. It's either a few people in total denial who are too deep in to think rationally or everyone is scared ****less of the fallout from giving up on it and keep putting it off so someone else has to deal with it.
I'm sure my feelings about the arts in Galway and this project are a few pages back so I won't repeat them.

If anyone has a right to be pissed off about this project it's the various groups within the arts who could've actually used the money to produce _something_, literally anything. It's hard enough to get funding in that area as it stands without big huge moronic yokes like this. I assume this is continually draining quite a lot of funding away from other projects as the years go on too? The original sum must have only been for 2-3 years of development, surely?

westgolf

Construction has restarted so we are back to one-traffic-lane chaos again.

what_traffic

westgolf wrote: »

Construction has restarted so we are back to one-traffic-lane chaos again.

What kind of "chaos" has been witnessed to date westgolf?

westgolf

what_traffic wrote: »

What kind of "chaos" has been witnessed to date westgolf?

Tailback from there to harbour hotel as they were building the hoarding and one lane closed..same as what went on with last builder.

serfboard

westgolf wrote: »

Construction has restarted so we are back to one-traffic-lane chaos again.

Well in fairness, do we want them to finish it or have it left as a white elephant? I'd rather it was finished - this will necessitate some short-term pain, but this project is too much in the spotlight now to let it drag on indefinitely.

Thargor

serfboard wrote: »

Well in fairness, do we want them to finish it or have it left as a white elephant? I'd rather it was finished - this will necessitate some short-term pain, but this project is too much in the spotlight now to let it drag on indefinitely.

If it ran for free it would be good to finish it but if its an ongoing neverending sinkhole for funds for something that nobody really wanted or needed they might be better off turning it into apartments or donating it to the university or something.

nuac

Any reliable survey of numbers who would actually pay to see films there?

or is this just

1. Build it and they will come?

2. Too much spent now to abandon it.

Any reliable figure for amount of private, non-public funds, in this?

Mrs OBumble

Thargor wrote: »

If it ran for free it would be good to finish it but if its an ongoing neverending sinkhole for funds for something that nobody really wanted or needed they might be better off turning it into apartments or donating it to the university or something.

Eh? A cinema in the city centre something that no body wanted or needed?

Needed, I agree.

Wanted - you bet people want it. I absolutely want it, think it's ridiculous that people have to trudge out to a bog on the Headford Rd to see a movie.

Tilikum

westgolf wrote: »

Tailback from there to harbour hotel as they were building the hoarding and one lane closed..same as what went on with last builder.

Yesterday the tailback was to the radasson hotel.

Thargor

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Eh? A cinema in the city centre something that no body wanted or needed?

Needed, I agree.

Wanted - you bet people want it. I absolutely want it, think it's ridiculous that people have to trudge out to a bog on the Headford Rd to see a movie.

Yeah that 10 minute walk from Eyre Square can be a real ordeal. I think they have concrete footpaths and tarmacked roads out there now so you dont have to worry about sinking into the bog anymore.

As per the Primetime report their own due diligence showed them requiring a crazy amount of screenings at >50% occupancy every day all year round to break even so it looks like it will be a sinkhole going forward.

gordongekko

Tilikum wrote: »

Yesterday the tailback was to the radasson hotel.

There is a bus strike on

ben.schlomo

gordongekko wrote: »

There is a bus strike on

Yep all roads in and out were a disaster and it can't all be blamed on that stretch of road.

xckjoo

westgolf wrote: »

Tailback from there to harbour hotel as they were building the hoarding and one lane closed..same as what went on with last builder.

Doesn't that tailback regularly go half way back Lough Atalia even with two lanes at the cinema open?

pure.conya

serfboard wrote: »

Well in fairness, do we want them to finish it or have it left as a white elephant? I'd rather it was finished - this will necessitate some short-term pain, but this project is too much in the spotlight now to let it drag on indefinitely.

finishing the place would mean the state or local authorities will have to start ploughing millions into the place annually just to keep the doors open, so in my mind the best thing that could have happened was the place never opening at all

what_traffic

westgolf wrote: »

Tailback from there to harbour hotel as they were building the hoarding and one lane closed..same as what went on with last builder.

ah Ok, thats what I thought. The usual car traffic chaos here at peak times. Bus strike probably increasing number of cars on the road as well.

How long will this "fit out" take?

Arghus

what_traffic wrote: »

ah Ok, thats what I thought. The usual car traffic chaos here at peak times. Bus strike probably increasing number of cars on the road as well.

How long will this "fit out" take?

By my estimation: Nine years and two Prime Time Investigates.

what_traffic

Arghus wrote: »

By my estimation: Nine years and two Prime Time Investigates.

I presume Element Pictures (who run the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin) are responsible for the final Fit Out of the Cinema now?