A long-running proposal to open a 'presidential museum' to honour former President Mary Robinson has been further delayed due to a €800,000 financial shortfall linked to an absence of charitable donations for the project.
More than €5m in public money has been pumped into the project to date, which would see the family home of Mrs Robinson, Victoria House in Ballina, repurposed as Ireland’s first and only presidential museum.
The building, now called the Mary Robinson Centre, lies empty and another €1 million at least is needed to cover fit-out costs.
The plan for the museum was originally proposed by Mary Robinson herself and a charitable foundation, the Victoria House Foundation, was set up to drive the idea. Mayo County Council purchased the house from the Robinson family to develop the project.
The Council has confirmed €5.09 million has been spent to date on the centre, including €2m from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and €2m from the Council itself.
The Victoria House Foundation committed to provide €1.1m towards the construction of the facility, but it has emerged that the charity paid just €300,000 to the local authority.
Mayo County Council has confirmed that an €800,000 gap in promised funding remains, but in a statement to Prime Time the Council said "the Foundation is fully committed to completing the payments."
The building work at Victoria House is almost completed, but Mayo County Council says it cannot say when the required fit-out work will begin. The Victoria House Foundation has told Prime Time it will pay the €800,000 it owes to the local authority "once the centre is up and running".
It means that unless the funds are found to fit out and finish the building, Mayo County Council may never see the outstanding funds being paid to them.
An analysis of the Victoria House Foundation accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office reveals that donations for the project received in the last few years are not what was originally expected.
Having raised significant funds prior in the years to 2016, in 2017 the Foundation set a target of €2m in donations from international philanthropic backers. But despite the intention, over the following years income from donations slowed to a trickle.
In 2018, the Foundation recorded no income in the form of donations, and over the next two years 2019-2020 just €1,000 in donations is recorded in the company accounts. 2022 is the final year for which accounts are available.
One councillor in Mayo has said an investigation into the project and the use of public funds is needed.
"A full review needs to happen," says Fine Gael Cllr Peter Flynn.
"Discussions need to happen between the Foundation, between the Council, and by the Government department that have given the €2m funding. I think a plan needs to be devised."
He has suggested that the building be used in the short term as a centre to assist Ukrainian refugees.
"Mary Robinson has been UN Commissioner for Human Rights and has been associated with humanitarian causes in the past. It would seem like an opportunity, given it is vacant right now, to use it as a refugee centre."
However, some supporters of the project have dismissed the proposals and say everything should be done to get the centre open and functioning as planned.
"She's Ireland's first female president. She's Chair of The Elders, has been a strong voice for social good and social justice [and] in particular, a strong voice in Gaza and the Middle East at the moment," said independent councillor, Mark Duffy.
"Also in terms of the climate crisis and having a home in a centre like this, to focus on those values and be a home for dialogue for those values, [that] is priceless," he added.
Councillor Duffy staunchly defends the Victoria House Foundation saying it will be able to repay the €800,000 when the centre is up and running.
He says the project is needed in Ballina and will be revenue-generating to help pay the committed funds to the Council.
"What I've said is that they will repay the money that is committed. That is a team of volunteers and a voluntary board of directors who have raised €300,000 euro [to date], which is no mean feat."
The Foundation said today that the funds will be paid over to the Council "once the centre is up and running."
