Cork prepares to be European City of Culture but are modifications happening quickly enough?
In 2004 Lille in France became the European City of Culture. Lille transformed itself from a relatively rundown industrial town into a thriving cultural city. More than 2,500 events have been organised throughout the year involving 17,000 artists and a large opening party.
For the past year, the many spires of Cork have been vying for attention with cranes. The biggest ever infrastructural programme is attempting to change the face of the city. This is a race against time.
With only 10 months until Cork's tenure as European Capital of Culture, the city council believes the necessary transformations will be ready in time.
Nevertheless St Patrick's Street and the city centre resemble a building site, the School of Music functions in a hotel on the quays. Cork 2005 director John Kennedy believes complaints that major building works will continue into next year miss the point,
The fact that they are happening, the fact that the city is being changed at that level is really the point, not when will they be finished.
Cork Opera 2005 is receiving a fraction of the funding it had hoped to receive. Director of Opera 2005 Kevin Mallon feels if funding is lacking when Cork is the European City of Culture,
Then nobody should try anything outside of Dublin.
However, once the anticipated details of the programme are revealed in March 2005, it is expected that the 7-million-euro private funding of the 20 million euro earmarked to run the year will start to come on stream.
There is also plenty of goodwill among the people of Cork that its year of European City of Culture will be a success,
I think it's absolutely fantastic, delighted that it's Cork and not Dublin.
Those working in the arts such as Fenton Gallery founder Nuala Fenton hope that Cork tenure as European City of Culture will have lasting effects.
An RTÉ News report was broadcast on 2 March 2004. The reporter is Flor MacCarthy.
