Work is under way on a deer garden sculpture park outside a temporary block of toilets in Killarney – but there is no money for the toilets, a town council meeting has heard.
The €70,000 park involving two bronze stags interlocking their horns in the centre of a garden is being created alongside the town’s courthouse and adjacent public toilets.
Plans have been drawn up for the toilets but funding cannot be accessed because of the current economic climate, the town’s monthly meeting of its council has been told.
However, funds are available for the sculpture and its gardens under the “per cent for Arts Scheme”, which means Government art funding is available as a percentage of housing, roads and water works carried out in the town.
Town clerk Michael O’Leary said that the arts money could not be redirected to the toilets.
The €70,000, from the Department of the Environment, will cover both the bronze stags and the gardens.
The sculpture is by well-known sculptor Don Cronin who is responsible for other animal sculptures including the bull in Macroom.
The town’s engineer, David Doyle, said the council fully intended to pursue money for a permanent toilet block.