Council to withdraw from costly toilet contract

A KILRUSH toilet, described last September as “the most expensive piece of retail property in Ireland,” is to have the plug pulled on it by Kilrush Town Council.
The council is to withdraw from its 20-year contract with Street Furniture Limited. The decision to withdraw from the contract will cost the council €53,000 plus VAT but will save up to €211,000. That is the total it would cost if the town were to remain bound to the contract. The council is tied into the public toilet contract until 2019.
As a result of the 20-year contract the town council entered into in 1999, the rental of the toilet in the town square cost €201,301.51 between 2005 and 2010. During the same time period, the toilet realised just €9,940.49 from people paying to use it.
Kilrush Town Councillor Paul Moroney described the town’s only public toilet as “the most expensive piece of retail property in Ireland,” at September’s town council meeting.
The contentious toilet featured regularly on the Kilrush Town Council meeting agenda as far back as December 2008. At that stage, the council said it would have to take out a loan of more than €120,000 if they were to buy out the contract for the toilet, which was costing the council approximately €37,000 per annum.
At that meeting, more than four years ago, Councillor Tom Prendeville suggested it could cost the council up to €155,000 to withdraw from the contract.
Then Councillor Deirdre Culligan proposed that the council take out a loan, in the region of €120,000, in order to extract themselves from the 20-year contract. She pointed out the alternative was spending approximately €450,000 over the following 11 years.
The toilet will remain in place for 2012 though, as the council has to serve 12 months’ notice on their intention to withdraw from the contract.