Residents of the Connemara community of Rosmuc have accused Údarás na Gaeltachta of trying to "airbrush" 1916 Rising leader Pádraig Pearse out of plans to build a cultural centre close to his former cottage.
The €4 million Cultúrlann Chonamara has just received planning approval from Galway County Council, and compulsory purchase orders have been issued to acquire commonage land for its location.
Some €2 million has been approved for the centre as part of the Government’s 1916 centenary commemorations next year.
Údarás na Gaeltachta is working with the Departments of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the Office of Public Works and Fáilte Ireland on its construction and on securing further funding.
A walkway between the centre and Pearse’s thatched house, managed by the Office of Public Works, is part of the overall plan.
No Pearse
Residents who had campaigned for some years for the centre expressed anger on Raidio na Gaeltachta’s
Iris Aniar
programme on Tuesday that Pearse’s name was not in the title for the planning application.
Local resident Colm Ó Mainnín expressed concern that its focus would be more about "leprechauns dancing" and "Bart Simpson on a donkey" than about Pearse himself.
Former Galway County Council and Údarás board member Seosamh Ó Cuaig, whose mother was from Rosmuc, told The Irish Times that he welcomed the planning approval and funding, but said that omitting the name of Pearse was "like omitting Nelson Mandela from a centre built in his name".
He said he had received assurances from the Gaeltacht authority that the issue would “be sorted”.
Progressing development
In its annual report, Údarás na Gaeltachta said it looked forward to “progressing the development of the Cultúrlann Chonamara, a visitor centre at Teach an Phiarsaigh in Ros Muc, Connemara”.
“The centre will not only commemorate one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising but will also be an iconic visitor attraction of international appeal, and will be one of the legacy projects advanced as part of a network of flagship projects along the Wild Atlantic Way,”it said.
A spokeswoman for the Gaeltacht authority said that “Cultúrlann Chonamara” was “a working title”.
