The Dublin city manager, Mr John Fitzgerald, confirmed yesterday that he is reviewing the role of Temple Bar Properties (TBP), the agency set up to develop the city's designated "cultural quarter".
He said TBP, which is now wholly-owned by Dublin City Council, started out as a development company, but was now a property management company and this needed to be reflected in the composition of its board.
The council has requested Mr Fitzgerald to appoint two new directors, one representing residents of the area and the other representing traders in the west end of Temple Bar who have been complaining about poor business.
"I have to be satisfied that this is properly thought out, and I have asked for views from various people", he said. "Rather than appoint directors on a piecemeal basis, maybe we should have a longer term look at the composition of the board".
The Old City Traders group claim that over a third of the businesses in the west end of Temple Bar have failed since it was launched in 2001. The most spectacular failure was the Viking Adventure, which cost more than €7 million to develop.
A new urban framework plan for Temple Bar, commissioned by TBP, is to be launched later this month.
