Mystery over resignation of museum head says Councillor

By Denise McNamara

Mystery surrounds the resignation of the city museum director, according to a city councillor who has urged the local authority to come clean about the reasons behind the unexpected move.Sarah Gillespie resigned from the high profile arts position with effect from August 3.

Cllr Conneely insists the silence from city hall on the resignation is deafening.

“When somebody resigns from a position like that they’re either going somewhere or there would be some recognition of the service they put in and they would be wished well in their future life,” the Fine Gael representative stated.

“But city hall has invoked a vow of silence. This person was a paid public servant, it’s not good enough that we’re given no explanation at all. The council’s stance on this raises issues about the running of the museum.”

Cllr Conneely has been a vocal critic of the museum, which opened to the public in an award-winning building overlooking the Corrib in July 2006. He has called for the building to be opened to the public seven days a week, instead of being closed on Sundays and Mondays even in the peak tourism season.He has also criticised the direction of the museum, which he claims has been a glorified exhibition space instead of an institution that reflects the history of the city.

The museum closed for two months earlier in the summer to undergo a €100,000 revamp over three floors. The work included the conservation and preparation of hundreds of artefacts for a display that will take the visitor from prehistoric Galway right up to the present day. Most of the museum's ground floor exhibits are on a long term loan from the National Museum of Ireland, while the next two floors look at aspects of Galway's contemporary history and feature art and craft exhibitions.

“As chairperson of the city council’s cultural committee I will be requesting the reasons why the director felt it necessary to resign and if there were any issues that led to the unexpected resignation,” he added.Up to now they had six staff, including deputy director and education officer Breandán Ó hEaghra.

He will take over the duties of director until a decision on the post is made.

The council refused to make any comment on the resignation.

“We don’t discuss human resource issues and these are not within the remit of councillors,” a spokesman replied.

“No decision has yet been made on whether the post will be filled.”