Strong disagreements regarding the expansion plans for the St Patrick’s Day festival among the festival’s main state backers, including Dublin City Council, Fáilte Ireland, and the Department of Tourism have emerged in documents released under the Freedom of Information act.
The Department of Tourism has yet to release the full reports into the festival company, which cost €70,000, as they are still considering the recommendations made in 2019 and 2020.
Ahead of the 2019 parade, Susan Kirby, then CEO of the festival company, told The Irish Times she planned to expand the festival into a month-long countrywide celebration.An an Ernst & Young review of the festival was underway at the time.
The festival is run by a registered charity and receives over 70pc of its €3.35 million budget from state bodies, with significant contributions from the Department of Tourism, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin City Council.
The controversy arose when civil servants in the Department of Tourism discovered the expansion plans through an interview published in The Irish Times.
Fáilte Ireland’s Orla Carroll, director of product development in Fáilte Ireland, wrote in a response on February 12, 2019, that it was “the first I’ve heard about it”
“It feels like a tactic to dispel anything the review shows up. You would think the funders would be involved in any vision for the festival.” Fáilte Ireland were working on developing festivals in other towns and cities.
Ciara Sugrue, said the board “have not signed off any such new vision or plan. This to me highlights the significant governance issues in the SPF organisation that we have raised and are clearly not being taken on board”.
The festival company defended itself, stating that while they are always looking to expand, there are currently no plans to go beyond the festival’s current format.
Judith Woodworth, chair of the festival organisation said the festival’s board was “very concerned that you would have read the article in the way that you have. Tthere was no intention to pre-empt any discussions with Fáilte Ireland who are a most important stakeholder in St Patrick’s Festival.”
