John Downes revisits the five-year saga involving plans to revamp the Cork School of Music.
Plans to revamp the Cork School of Music, which forms part of the Cork Institute of Technology, were first formulated in 1999, when Cork-based Micheál Martin, was Minister for Education and Science.
The school's original premises on Union Quay, built in 1956, were found to be in need of extensive refurbishment and enlargement. The estimated cost of this revamp was in the region of €13.3 million.
At the same time, the Department of Education and Science was also examining the funding of capital projects, and decided to use a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to finance the new school.
It also decided it would be uneconomical to extend and refurbish the existing building, with Jarvis Projects, a British-based firm, eventually selected to build a 13,000 sq metre space, to include a 5,000-seat flexible auditorium, individual tuition rooms and dance and drama facilities.
However, concerns soon emerged about the potential costs involved. Original estimates put these at between €30 million and €40 million, compared with a final cost of €60 million, to be met by Jarvis Projects.
In return, Jarvis Projects will receive an annual rent of some €8.2 million over the 25-year term of the lease, after which time the building will revert back to public ownership. On current figures, this brings the project's total cost to the Government to some €205 million.
Another consideration was an EU decision that PPPs should be counted as borrowings in Exchequer returns. This would mean the project could seriously affect the state of the Exchequer returns, which are subject to the Growth and Stability Pact.
Others, including the Green Party, labelled PPPs a "wheeze" invented by the Government to pretend it was not borrowing.
While these delays were going on, hundreds of students and supporters of the college staged protests to highlight their disapproval at the situation. The European Parliament president, Mr Pat Cox, also expressed his support for the school, saying it would be a major blow to the city if construction of the new building failed to go ahead as planned.
Supporters of the school also recently threatened to make the new building an issue at the upcoming local elections.