Organisers of Galway’s European Capital of Culture have launched an initiative to rejuvenate the project, following a series of controversies in recent months.
The Galway 2020 company says it is determined to deliver a world class series of events and has rejected suggestions that it is trying to muzzle criticisms of its work.
At an event in the city tonight, updated branding images for the year long celebration of culture were unveiled.
Those leading the project committed to greater engagement with the public in the coming months.
They are inviting Galway people to visit a dedicated exhibition in the city over the weekend, where they can find out about how plans for the celebration of culture are progressing.
Galway 2020 CEO Patricia Philbin denied there was an effort by the company to control conversation around the event, after a number of organisations involved in the project were given a pamphlet today, with suggested answers they could give to media queries about their work.
Ms Philbin said the issue of handling press requests had arisen in discussions with cultural partners and the guidance was provided in that context.
She said she was confident that the widespread enthusiasm that greeted the city’s designation in July 2016 was still present, and that this could be revived in the coming months.
Tonight’s gathering heard from a number of speakers, who urged those present to support the Galway 2020 effort.
Galway 2020 initiative aims to rejuvenate project | https://t.co/50oH3yZgs8 pic.twitter.com/aYt2AZS9Xz
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 16, 2018
Further details were also provided about a range of projects that are under way, with work on several others continuing ahead of the start of the Capital of Culture in just over 12 months time.
An extensive volunteering programme will be launched early in 2019, and work is ongoing to issue contracts to cultural organisations that are due to provide works for the programme of events.
The relaunch comes just days before a European monitoring group, which is following the implementation process, meets with Galway 2020 staff in Brussels.
They have previously urged greater public involvement and have expressed concern that negative aspects of the planning so far could impact on the eventual outcome.
