Carriganore Sports Campus

mccarthy37

Whats going on out there. Construction to stop for the present as funding has run out
This wonderful addition to the Campus would have created work and footfall to our City has stopped for the present with 7.5 million euro already spent out of the 10 Million another 2.5 million seems a bridge to far for WIT.
With millions going to Colleges and Uni's all over the country the south east has been targeted again for the cut.
I am beginning to wonder do our local Politicians have any clout at all with this present Government.
If it goes on this way for much longer our city will end up with village status. All the advancements we have made in the past 30 yrs are being striped away without any meaningful decent from our local representatives to obviously the gain to other area's.

johnnykilo

There was an article in the Sunday Times this week about WIT trying to recoup some of the approx 4 Million (I think, I will check for sure when I get home and edit if necessary) expenses the previous president Ciaran Byrne ran up in his 10 years in the job. If they got half of that back they could afford to finish the Carraiganore campus.

spankmemunkey

This was on the 6.1 news the other night.

They said it needed another potential 14 million to be finished, I know your gonna say no way but thats what was on the news, see if you can dig it out on the RTE real player! If it wasnt last night it was the night before!

rayc

spankmemunkey wrote: »

This was on the 6.1 news the other night.

They said it needed another potential 14 million to be finished, I know your gonna say no way but thats what was on the news, see if you can dig it out on the RTE real player! If it wasnt last night it was the night before!

I'm pretty sure they meant the final cost would go to 14 million (from 10).

spankmemunkey

rayc wrote: »

I'm pretty sure they meant the final cost would go to 14 million (from 10).

Could have been but i know i heard the figure of 14 to finish, see can you find the RTE player one.

rayc

spankmemunkey wrote: »

Could have been but i know i heard the figure of 14 to finish, see can you find the RTE player one.

http://www.rte.ie/player/ie/show/10104602/

Starts at 31.40

spankmemunkey

What was it he said, 7 million spent and to finish it the total cost could be 14 million!

MacGyver

its at 7 million at the minute, if it finishes as planned it would be a total of 10 million spent. if the cash cant be raised the final total will be 14 million instead of the planned 10 million not on top of it.

spankmemunkey

MacGyver wrote: »

its at 7 million at the minute, if it finishes as planned it would be a total of 10 million spent. if the cash cant be raised the final total will be 14 million instead of the planned 10 million not on top of it.

Yup i think we had it sorted! cheers!:D

Bards

... and they (Govt) found the extra money for the Old Age Pensioners personal alarm system pretty quick last week, and thus were able to reverse the cut.

Coincidence or Not?

Sully

Bards wrote: »

... and they (Govt) found the extra money for the Old Age Pensioners personal alarm system pretty quick last week, and thus were able to reverse the cut.

Coincidence or Not?

What do you mean 'coincidence'? They also released €3m to the emergency release fund for students recently as a result of the considerable delays processing grants through that awful SUSI system.

I don't know the ins and outs of this particular cause but I remember reading that part of the reason why they are short funds is because of problems drawing down money from the Campus Services company (its internal) that is currently under investigation by the Dept. of Education.

I'd need to read into this more but I don't fully understand how or why they went ahead with a development short financed or if they didn't than how they didn't budget for this particular phase. How is it now they are talking about needing finance? Is it something the government should bail out - matters like student emergency fund and alarms for the elderly is far more serious and important.

wellboytoo

Sounds peculiar to start a development with only 50% of the cash in the bank! would like to hear more myself before lambasting the Government or anyone else.

spankmemunkey

wellboytoo wrote: »

Sounds peculiar to start a development with only 50% of the cash in the bank! would like to hear more myself before lambasting the Government or anyone else.

Ah sure there were plenty of developments that didnt have any cash before starting in the boom, When was this project started by the way?

Sully

spankmemunkey wrote: »

Ah sure there were plenty of developments that didnt have any cash before starting in the boom, When was this project started by the way?

November 2011.

It appears to me this was short financed because they wont draw money down from the Campus Services Company (WIT Campus Services) as its under investigation by the Department of Education. Its future, I suppose, is uncertain. The press release during the sod turning said it would cost €10.5m and was being funded by WIT Campus Services. The investigation was launched just before Christmas so I think that's a firm link.

Should the state throw them the extra few bob to finish it? Its more a college service rather than something which would provide a jobs boost for the City - it just helps that the building can also be a conference center.

The college has received, as did this extra campus, a fair bit of funding over the years but it has stopped due to the fiscal constraints the state finds itself in. This project appears to have the funding (one would assume) but they cant really withdraw the money due to this investigation. So it appears they are applying pressure now for someone else to bail them out and as much as I want this project completed I am not sure it government funding should be given when other services and areas could do with the money and giving it to WIT may take it away from an essential service that is already at breaking point.

spankmemunkey

Sully wrote: »

November 2011.

It appears to me this was short financed because they wont draw money down from the Campus Services Company (WIT Campus Services) as its under investigation by the Department of Education. Its future, I suppose, is uncertain. The press release during the sod turning said it would cost €10.5m and was being funded by WIT Campus Services. The investigation was launched just before Christmas so I think that's a firm link.

Should the state throw them the extra few bob to finish it? Its more a college service rather than something which would provide a jobs boost for the City - it just helps that the building can also be a conference center.

The college has received, as did this extra campus, a fair bit of funding over the years but it has stopped due to the fiscal constraints the state finds itself in. This project appears to have the funding (one would assume) but they cant really withdraw the money due to this investigation. So it appears they are applying pressure now for someone else to bail them out and as much as I want this project completed I am not sure it government funding should be given when other services and areas could do with the money and giving it to WIT may take it away from an essential service that is already at breaking point.

2011:eek:

Sully

spankmemunkey wrote: »

2011:eek:

Indeed. If they have the money to build it, that's their own choice. Its a fantastic campus and this service will only add to it. But its not a fault of the government that they are short funds, its a fault of WIT.

http://www.munster-express.ie/local-news/wit-sports-campus-project-to-create-200-construction-jobs-2/

Tarzann

Kieran Byrne's corrupt activities have far-reaching consequences.

Sully

Tarzann wrote: »

Kieran Byrne's corrupt activities have far-reaching consequences.

This cant really be blamed on him. He was gone when they started this development. They knew their budget when they started this.

Tarzann

We have seen you stick up for his holiness Kieran Byrne here before. His activities which are now under investigation are the reason that the Campus services funds are being withheld. Basically the corruption that went on when he was "in power" is the underlying reason that funds have now been withheld from this.

wellboytoo

Tarzann wrote: »

We have seen you stick up for his holiness Kieran Byrne here before. His activities which are now under investigation are the reason that the Campus services funds are being withheld. Basically the corruption that went on when he was "in power" is the underlying reason that funds have now been withheld from this.

afaik the investigation is going back a lot further Than Kieran byrne's time,

Sully

Tarzann wrote: »

We have seen you stick up for his holiness Kieran Byrne here before. His activities which are now under investigation are the reason that the Campus services funds are being withheld. Basically the corruption that went on when he was "in power" is the underlying reason that funds have now been withheld from this.

I know I have defended him in the past but I don't have full support for him any further.

The issue with Campus Services has very little to do with him (if anything) - it was discovered as an issue (having being raised by students in the past) during an investigation of WITs finances.

wellboytoo

Sully wrote: »

I know I have defended him in the past but I don't have full support for him any further.

The issue with Campus Services has very little to do with him (if anything) - it was discovered as an issue (having being raised by students in the past) during an investigation of WITs finances.

About time they investigated it, I have heard all the rumours over the last 15 or 20 years of the chicanery by certain individuals now retired or living abroad.
Hopefully all will come into the public domain at last and properties businesss etc can be put back into the ownership of WIT.
Kieran Byrnes actions will seem like a schoolboy prank in comparison to what went before!

mccarthy37

Its a pity this centre has to be put on hold.
It will be a brilliant addition to the College campus when completed, I wonder will it be possible to get lottery funding. I hope it can be sorted out soon passing by the place it was beginning to really look very impressive.
At a time when every new job is very welcome its a shame that the money is not there to complete the job. Its hard to believe that bad financial planing is to blame for the hold up, if a college cant get it right it doesn't look very good does it.

Hoffmans

IF they cant get an extension finished then there could be no chance of an upgrade either imo.

skaface

They also said on the Rte News that the campus could be used as a VENUE for Concerts that could hold up to 3,500..
Surely this is a great oppertunity to generate money if done properly..

dzilla

Ah sure lads the builders will get a note of the doctor n have some lame excuse, get the project handed in late and everyones a winner

On a side note with regards concerts, Aiken are announcing a big concert for Kilkenny tomorrow, its great for the south east region to be getting events like this, i always thought it admirable of kk to get such events even not as the regions capital