Over €95k spent by UL on unused lakeside residence

THE University of Limerick spent more than €95,000 on an unused residence for the college president that had been empty for almost a decade.

UL came under sustained pressure to sell the property after it built a second president’s residence for €2.2million in 2010.

The lavish Killaloe home, which overlooks Lough Derg, was recently sold for €790,000, having had a €850,000 value. Figures released to the Mail show that a total of €95,889.69 was spent on costs built up maintaining the vacant Killaloe property since January 2017.

Invoice details show that just over €18,000 was spent on painting the property; more than €11,500 was spent on ground maintenance; and almost €8,000 was spent on tarmacadam.

Routine maintenance costs accounted for a significant portion of the overall expense, such as building maintenance of €5,400, while almost €3,000 was spent on oil. The university also allocated more than €400 for ‘soft furnishings’ for the property, as well as almost €8,000 for replacing glass.

A university spokesman confirmed UL president Dr Des Fitzgerald did not reside in the property.

News of the costs incurred are sure to rankle with students who have paid rents for the rest of the semester for campus accommodation they have not been using for weeks due to the pandemic.

With the Covid-19 crisis posing financial challenges to third-level colleges, the spokesman added that the university’s capital development plans will be reviewed.

‘UL is in a process of quantifying the financial impact of the coronavirus global pandemic. It seems likely at this stage, taking into account that additional Government funding has not yet been provided to the University, that a significant deficit will be incurred in both the current year and next year,’ he said.

The residence has long been a source of controversy for the university. The money made from the sale of the Killaloe house was then used to fund a third property, Larkin House.

Larkin House is on 1.1 acres of land and leads onto a further five acres of land previously acquired by UL.

The Killaloe house – known as ‘the Downs’ – attracted controversy in 2010, when UL decided to build a second house, funded by US philanthropist Chuck Feeney, at a time of economic austerity and when the university was €3million in debt. The second residence on the university campus is home to the current UL president.

€8,000 for replacing glass ‘Significant deficit’ likely