merrion street

Josepha Madigan, T.D., Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, has today committed to supporting Galway 2020 as it starts to explore the possibilities for a revised programme.

Reiterating her commitment to the Irish arts sector, the Minister assured Galway 2020 that remaining funding from her Department for the European Capital of Culture will be made available for projects that can be completed. This will allow Galway 2020 to re-engage with the cultural partners from the winning European Capital of Culture programme, to scope out the options for delivery of their projects at a suitable time later this year or early next year, in line with prevailing public health guidelines.

Minister Madigan said:

I am very pleased to confirm my support for Galway 2020 and the cultural producers to engage in discussions on the delivery of a revised programme focussing on the key projects that have been imagined over many years and since significantly developed.

Holding the title of European Capital of Culture is a great honour for Ireland and the programme was shaping up to be one of the largest, most diverse and exciting cultural offerings Ireland has ever witnessed. While the COVID-19 crisis has deeply impacted the programme, I want to acknowledge the dedication and importance of local artists as they continue to work with Galway 2020 and assess the potential for their projects. The possibility to showcase the best Irish artistic talent is not only important for the artists themselves, but for the local community and Ireland’s reputation as a centre of creativity.

 I again want to thank the Galway 2020 board, team, artists and cultural producers for their continued hard work and commitment to the European Capital of Culture for the people of Galway. I acknowledged the very difficult decisions that have been made as a result of the COVID-19 crisis, especially the decision to make some team members redundant. I want to reassure those affected that all the Government COVID supports are available to them.

Ireland, like the rest of the world, is experiencing an unprecedented crisis. My on-going commitment to Galway 2020 is but one of the measures to ensure that artists in Ireland can continue to create, perform and thrive into the future. We have seen in recent weeks with the IrelandPerforms series, the Other Voices Courage programme, and the Dear Ireland project at the Abbey Theatre, the positive contribution that arts, culture and creativity can make in the most challenging circumstances. Information on all these cultural initiatives and more is available online as part of the #InThisTogether campaign launched by the Taoiseach last week. It remains my fervent commitment to use all my resources to ensure that the sectors under my remit weather this crisis and bounce back in its aftermath.