Dermot McLaughlin headed Temple Bar Cultural Trust to be wound down

Temple Bar Cultural Trust (TBCT), whose current Chief Executive, Dermot McLaughlin recently resigned for personal reasons from his seconded post as Project director with the UK City of Culture in Londonderry, has been under serious scrutiny in relation to financial governance.

A statement released from TBCT this afternoon shows that the initial steps of dissolving the organisation have been set in motion.

The sole shareholder of TBCT is Dublin City Council and the statement obtained by the Sentinel states: “At the request of the Shareholder, the Board of TBCT discussed the latitude report into the future of TBCT.”

The Latitude report referred to was an independent review into the practices of TBCT and was published almost two years ago in June, 2011.

The TBCT statement continues: “The Board acknowledges the achievements of TBCT but the time has come for reinvigoration of what was the cultural remit of TBCT. In that context the board recommends to the shareholder that a process of winding down the Company should be initiated.

“The Board is of the view that there is a unique cultural identity to the Temple Bar area, and that the shareholder should consider now how best this can continue to be developed.”

The Londonderry Sentinel also recently published the contents of a financial audit by Dublin City Council that raised deep concerns about the monetary management of TBCT over a year long period.

The audit report examined concerns about the handling of company credit cards by some staff members and the negotiation of multi million pound loans from the Ulster Bank in relation to a flagship project in the Temple Bar area about which the board of TBCT were not informed.

The report also highlighted concerns about basic accounting procedures and in relation to expenses claimed by staff members at TBCT during Dermot McLaughlin’s tenure as Chief Executive Officer.

Although it must be stressed that neither the Latitude report nor the Audit by Dublin City Council suggested any financial impropriety in connection to any individual at the company.

The Sentinel understands that further scrutiny of the internal audit report will now be incorporated into the winding down of TBCT including any matters in relation to staff at the organisation and that any issues of accountability arising out of this may in due course be used to initiate disciplinary proceedings.

One highly vocal critic of TBCT in recent years has been Independent Dublin City Councillor Mannix Flynn.

Mr Flynn resigned his position as a Director of TBCT last Sunday night city the findings of the Latitude Report and Dublin City Councils internal audit as his reasons and said in his resignation letter “the continuing difficulties in accountability, responsibility and manageability within the entire structure of Temple Bar Cultural Trust.”

Speaking to the Sentinel this afternoon Mr Flynn said with regard to the winding down of TBCT: “I think this should have taken place two years ago. There are serious constitutional matters in relation to TBCT arising out of this.

“As a city councillor I have an obligation to the electorate and it is very unfortunate that such a chain of events took place in order for the winding down of the company to take place. This has had a huge impact on the cultural credibility of TBCT. I felt I had to resign as a director in order to give some credibility to any investigation to follow.”

After his resignation from his role at UK City of Culture, the CEO of TBCT Dermot McLaughlin signalled his intent to return to his position in Dublin on May 7. But after today’s announcement of the intent to wind down TBCT the future of all staff at the organisation remains unclear.