Menu
Ireland's political and cultural magazine
60 July-August 2023 July-August 2023 61
McLaughlin remains a continuing consulting
favourite for funding by the Arts Council of
which he was once a senior employee
T
emple Bar Properties converted
Temple Bar into a high-rent drink-
driven cultural centre in the 1990s.
Its focus then moved from physical
regeneration to consolidating the
cultural oīering it was housing and, in 2006, it
became Temple Bar Cultural Trust (TBCT), with
a new board appointed by Dublin City Council.
It was a private and limited not-for-profit
company engaged in cultural development in
Temple Bar, organising Temple Bar Food
Market,īconcerts,īcircus, street, Culture Night
and Handelās Day. In 2005 it had an income of
ā¬2m, with ā¬1.6m of this coming from its
50-strong property portfolio estimated to be
worth at least ā¬100m. Its CEO was Dermot
McLaughlin, a 17-year Arts Council employee
who had risen to become its assistant director.
He was also a talented ļ¬ddler.
Governance of TBCT was dysfunctional and in
2011 a review by Latitude, a consultancy,
recommended it be wound up and subsumed
into the Council.
Independent City Councillor Mannix Flynn, a
board member of TBCT, tabled a successful
motion to that eīect. The then city manager
John Tierney agreed to commission a review of
the organisation focusing on corporate
governance standards, board representation
and whether the trust was fulļ¬lling its brief as a
cultural promoter and enabler.
However, a Council audit report published in
March 2013 levelled charges of a diīerent level
of seriousness against TBCT, including failures
of corporate governance and ācontrol
weaknesses and/or regulatory violations [that]
represent unacceptable exposure and riskā for
the company.
The report found that the trustās board
minutes and papers were ānot availableā in
relation to certain ļ¬nancial transactions, noting
that TBCTās business plan for 2010 and 2011
had not been approved by its board.
From the
Temple of
Bars to
Listowel
Writers
Week
Dermot McLaughlin mismanaged Temple Bar and, facilitated by the
uncontrolled Arts Council which never took responsibility for failures in
Temple Bar, is now arrogantly calling out mismanagement in Listowel
By Michael Smith
There were found to be no appropriate
ļ¬nancial procedures and the fact the same
external auditors had been acting for over 10
years was deemed āin contravention of good
corporate governanceā. The party at most risk
from these failures was the publicly-funded Arts
Council which funds most of the cultural activity
in Temple Bar, not exactly an oasis of private
culture, to the tune of ā¬9m in 2022. The Arts
Council notably failed to investigate whether
certain sums paid by it to institutions in Temple
Bar were forwarded as intended to TBCT.
A TBCT-commissioned review of the audit by
former IBEC chief Turlough OāSullivan found that
the McLaughlin-fed board had āfailed in its duty
of oversight and governance by not enquiring
into and satisfying itself that proper procedures
were in place around ļ¬nancial transactionsā.
OāSullivan was no subversive so it was telling
that even he found this level of delinquency.
Lively īutumn gīles cīn turn to ī sudden winter shower
īnd you could do with īn expensive umbrellī
CULTURE
60 July-August 2023 July-August 2023 61
McLaughlin resigned, agreeing not to pursue
actions for defamation, and obtaining a
substantial severance package after a
disciplinary hearing into his role in oīering
generous redundancy packages to four senior
staī members was cancelled.
So whatās happened to the man who presided
over the mess? Funny thing is McLaughlin
doesnāt now mention his period in the van in
Dublinās Cultural Quarter. He remains a
continuing consulting favourite for funding by
his former employer, in the absence of a clear
Arts Council policy on how it procures its
consultants.
According to now free agent Dermot
McLaughlin heās ābeen involved in voluntary
work with organisations and on boards for many
years. I enjoy being involved, Iām always
interested in ļ¬nding ways to help, and I love
learning new things. So for me, voluntary work
in enriching and valuableā.
His voluntary work which came largely to an
end after 2008 included spells as:Chairman
(2011-2018) of Irish Traditional Music Archive;
Chairman (current) of TG4 Gradam Ceoil
selection panel (annual national traditional
music awards); Chairman (2007-2011) of Dublin
Dance Festival;
Chairman (2007) of ĆdarĆ”s na Gaeltachta and
Arts Council National Monitoring Committee on
Gaeltacht arts; Board Member (2006-2008):
Irish Architecture Foundation
Beyond this strings to McLaughlinās bow
include that he was:
Board Member (2003-2005): Rough Magic
Theatre Company; Founder and Board Member
(1994 to date): Scoil Cheoil Frankie Kennedy;
Founder and Committee Member (1982 to date):
Cairdeas na bhFidlĆ©irĆ .
In 2014 he set up his own independent
consultancy practice, Creative Strategic
Solutions.
After that he was he was involved in the Arts
Council of Northern Irelandās Audit of Traditional
Music in Northern Ireland (2014-15); the Arts
Councilās review of contemporary music policy
initiative (2015) EalaĆn na Gaeltachtaās
Competitive assessment of funding proposals
(2015); and An CosĆ”n Glasās Business planning,
negotiation strategy (2015).
Itās amazing how far an unassailable
relationship with the Arts Council can take a
man.
He also claims (admits?) he was involved in
the āMeeting House Square ā¬2.2m capital
redevelopment, business planning and
marketing project (2010)ā. Sounds good, so letās
have a look at what the project architect says
about this. SeĆ”n Harrington architectsā website
is as sanguine as McLaughlin is about the
situation. āThere is a saying in Ireland that you
can have four seasons in one day. Warm spring
sunshine can lead to intense summer light.
Lively autumn gales can turn to a sudden wintry
shower because Irish skies are constantly
changing. SeƔn Harrington architects was
commissioned to ļ¬nd a solution. The innovative
solution provides a convertible umbrella
covering over a popular public square in Dublin
Temple Bar area. The landmark umbrella
projects bespoke design comprises of four 21-m
high steel structural mastsā.
This is shameless and shocking when you
realise the, admittedly attractive, umbrellas
donāt work, never really did. In the last few
weeks one of the brolly arms buckled and repair
costs are so prohibitive as to make its
reinstatement unlikely.
The audit commissioned by Dublin City
Council was particularly scathing about Temple
Bar Square: āBoard minutes were altered,
deleting concerns raised by some Councillors,
and provided to Ulster Bank to support a loan;
Reams of ļ¬nancial data relating to the project
were deleted from the trustās computer system;
A total of ā¬2.7m of taxpayersā money was spent
on the project - despite just ā¬2m being
budgeted.
There was no competitive procurement
process before the architectsā appointmentā
though the EU requires one for expenditure over
ā¬25,000.
The audit concluded that the number and the
extent of weaknesses uncovered represents
āunacceptable exposure and riskā.
There was trouble too when it emerged part
of Harringtonās payment was to be his exclusive
use of the umbrellaed square for a series of ten
of his own events, worth ā¬35,000.
Harrington continues to avail of goodwill from
Dublin City Council. His considerable talents
have found recent form in schemes at York St
whose roof gardens are unusable, lifts donāt
Writers Week committee 1983. Amīteurs īnd the Arts Council wonāt hīve liked the wīllpīper