Does Galway need to be Capital of Culture?

I was updating my friend Whispering Blue on the latest predictable controversy raging around Galway City’s 2020 award.

“Ah don’t talk to me! Didn’t we lose the run of ourselves?” muttered the Galwegian.

There’s that expression again. I heard it often in 2009, spoken by others born here in the West of Ireland.

Didn’t like it then and don’t now. It implies we all have a station in life, to which we must adhere. Doubtless, some might still put it down to not wanting to put your head above the parapet, but there’s no Irishman I’ve ever met less likely to blame history, so what did Whispering Blue mean?

“Ah, you know Charlie, did we really need it?”

Did we need it? Did Galway City need to be awarded the title of European Capital of Culture 2020?

There I’d been when the announcements came in, dancing on Mainguard Street, deep inside the thronging mad mobs of joy that Galway City specialises in, and yay! We won! Galway is the best! I know it! You know and now the world will know it too!

While we drank in the excitement, the cynic in me hoped and then wrote of fears that this award might turn out to be yet another debacle, fuelled by hubris, wherein good local people get screwed while vast amounts of money disappear into offshore ethers.

Never once, ’til now, did I spare a thought for whether it was a good idea. My friend made a profound observation. Did Galway City really need it, and more importantly, did those who live here need it?

Depends on your priorities. If you seek only the bottom line, the profit margin, then yes, the possibilities are indeed tempting.

If you value what makes Galway great, which is you, the people, then the promise of 2020 starts to diminish.

To read Charlie’s column in full, please see this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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