Position clarified on National 1798 Centre
IN the wake of a major public outcry and a petition which circulated online, Chief Executive of Wexford County Council Tom Enright cut a frustrated figure at last week’s Wexford County Council meeting as he reiterated that the council had not in any way proposed the sale of the 1798 Centre.
A number of the elected members raised the issue over the course of the meeting and Mr Enright sought to clarify the situation.
‘I’d like to make it clear that there was no proposal to sell the 1798 Centre,’ he said. ‘We were approached by someone who wanted to buy it. We had agreed the sale of the building two years ago, but the buyer at the time, for their own reasons, pulled out of the deal at the last minute. This new person simply made an offer to purchase the building in line with what had been offered two years ago. There is a formal process here though and the building could not have been sold without briefing the members of the Enniscorthy Municipal District. It would be totally guided by them. If they feel we should refrain from selling it, we will give that consideration.’
‘However,’ he continued. ‘ The centre will need investment. I only wish that all of the people who mobilised and signed the online petition would attend the centre and pay in on the door. Visitor numbers are very low. We got advice from independent experts on it years ago and it was their view that the 1798 Centre would be very difficult to revive.’
Looking at the council’s financial statement for 2019, Cllr
Cathal Byrne pointed out that the 1798 Centre recorded an income of €417,992, while its expenditure was €415,716. He said it was far from the picture that had been painted of the centre running at a huge loss.
‘We need to re-think how the centre is promoted,’ said Cllr Byrne. ‘I’d like to call for more investment in the 1798 Centre and maybe we should look at promoting it to overseas visitors.’
Cllr Jim Codd was furious that the sale of the centre had even been mentioned in the first place.
‘How in the name of God did this even come up?’ he asked. ‘ There’s been an absolute rebellion among the people in opposition to this. Some things are not for sale and the person who approached should simply have been told, it’s not for sale.’
Sinn Féin’s Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin expressed his frustration at members not being kept in the loop regarding the situation and said that ‘ the figures contradict what we were told about the centre not covering its bills’. He said it was his belief that it could be ‘very financially beneficial to the area’,
After clarification was sought from Cllr Kathleen Codd Nolan, Mr Enright confirmed that it was the intention that the 1798 offering would form a major part of the mooted major tourism strategy for Enniscorthy and that the goal would be to house it in ‘a new facility in the heart of town’.