Culture clash by CEOs - culture year faces substantial deficit
A serious rift between the CEOs of Derry City Council and the Culture Company was today laid bare on BBC radio Foyle after the Culture Company’s CEO, Shona McCarthy said she was not consulted about the decision to wind the company up three months early. Ms McCarthy said the decision was made by the council.However the council CEO, Sharon O’Connor said the board of the Culture Company and its chairman, Martin Bradley, were aware of the decision and that there was a unanimous decision of the board to wind up the company.The council’s chief executive also said the council had to set aside £1.5m of ratepaters’ money to make sure the full cultural programme could be delivered and that a “substantial deficit” was likely.Culture Company CEO Shona McCarthy described the wind-up decision as “a slap in the face”.The public rift emerged after a board member who resigned, Ana Leddy, told the board’s chair, in a letter that she felt the decision would damage the ‘legacy’ work being done to maximise the impact of 2013. Ms McCarthy also claimed the company had not been consulted about legacy plans.This was contradicted by Ms O’Connor who said dozens of meetings had been held and there had been Culture Company participation.She also said the council had to commit £1.5m to ensure the full delivery of the programme and that the City of Culture programme would likely have a substantial deficit.Ana Leddy resigned her position on Friday because she did not want to be part of a board that failed to challenge controversial decisions.Primarily, she was concerned at the decision by Derry City Council to wind up the Culture Company early and make staff redundant despite the need to “copper fasten” the legacy of 2013.Her resignation letter said: “I cannot be part of a board which doesn’t challenge this action.”Fellow board member Claire McColgan stepped down last week, and Anna Cutler left the board earlier this month. Ms Cutler, from the Tate Gallery did not explain her move publicly, but the
