Fr Mathew Hall discussion creates more controversy

A war of words erupted at Athlone Town Council on Monday last after a call on the local authority to consider including other tourist attractions and services in the new plans for a new art gallery in Fr Mathew Hall. Labour"s Ray Lennon commented in a motion that he couldn"t see why the whole building had to be an art gallery. He asked that they considered putting the tourist office in the building or other services when they were spending €3.5 million on the development. He added that a town needed a good tourist office and a recent business survey showed that was what local traders wanted. 'We should use all the resources open to us. It going to take €85,000 a year to keep the gallery open. I feel on its own it"s a waste,' Mr Lennon said. However, Mr Lennon"s comments drew an angry response from other members amid noisy scenes with Cllr John Butler accusing him of 'going around with cotton wool in his ears and waffling' considering a decision had been taken and designs for the new art gallery in Fr Mathew Hall was currently on public display in Athlone Civic Centre. Fianna Fáil"s Kieran Molloy said that the council met with Fáilte Ireland and they had no interest in moving from Athlone Castle, noting they had expressed an interest in putting an information point in the Civic Centre. Reference was then made by some shouting councillors to the fact Cllr Lennon missed the last meeting where a decision had been taken on Fr Mathew Hall, to which his riposte was: 'You"ve missed meetings too.' This drew a quick reply from Cllr Molloy. 'You"ve missed more in one year than me in 22 years.' There were no objections to putting the designs on public display at the last meeting, Cllr Kevin "Boxer" Moran said urging Cllr Lennon to make a submission if he so wished and go to Thursday"s public meeting as they were all entitled to. Meanwhile, Cllr Mick O"Connell remarked that they couldn"t make Fáilte Ireland move the tourist office or extend their hours, instead they seem to be moving towards putting information points in various venues. He added that this was fantastic opportunity to do something with Fr Mathew Hall. 'I"m just asking that it be considered,' Mr Lennon said. However, Mayor Egbert Moran said the decision had been made and the design was now on public display. 'It"s going to be an art gallery,' he stated forcibly. Although he expressed fears about the gallery"s future viability, Fine Gael"s Mark Cooney said the public wanted it. He said the planning issue related to the design not the use or function and any submission could only relate to the design, a subjective issue, adding he couldn"t see why a information point could be located in the gallery. Athlone Town Clerk, John Walsh said a decision had been made long ago that all the floor space within the Fr Mathew Hall had been assigned to and would be used for the purpose of the gallery. Tourist attractions and other services which the council was involved in would be provided with the Civic Centre and Athlone Castle.