EU tells Galway 2020: “sort out the problems”

Galway City Tribune – Galway 2020 risks “losing track with the project” and is in danger of “incurring further delays” if it fails to solve a number of problems highlighted by the European Commission.

The latest report by the European Capital of Culture Expert Panel, which monitors the progress of Galway 2020, identified a number of key issues that need to be tackled in the short-term.

Among them were budget concerns, delays in implementing certain aspects of the project, communication problems, and staffing issues.

Unsurprisingly, given Galway 2020 lost its Creative Director, Chris Baldwin in controversial circumstances just 10 months into the role, a lack of cultural leadership was also highlighted; as was the lack of clarity in the organisational structure of Galway 2020.

The 13-page report by the experts was compiled following a second monitoring meeting between Galway 2020 representatives and members of the European Commission, which was held in Brussels in July.

Published on Wednesday night, the experts’ report concluded: “(We) would like to stress the need to solve the discussed issues in the short term, with danger of losing track with the project and incurring in further delays.

“In particular, there is a need to appoint a cultural leadership to mainstream an artistic vision into overall programme and communication efforts and for the project to move forward swiftly from programme conception to implementation.”

When asked by the experts what its top priorities for the short-term were, the Galway 2020 team “clearly affirmed the need to get the cultural leadership in place; to work on their communication; to stabilise their funding prospects; to deliver the project contracts; and to advance with the evaluation and monitoring work alongside NUI Galway.”

A six-strong group representing Galway 2020 attended the monitoring meeting in Brussels, including CEO Hannah Kiely and Damien Egan, Director of Operations and Finance.

Mr Egan advised the expert panel that they had two budget scenarios – the original planned budget of €45.75 million, and a “re-profiled budget” of €39.7 million “in case the originally planned County (Council) contribution of €6 million isn’t provided in full”.

The Galway 2020 group faced a grilling during the monitoring meeting on the progress of the project to date with just 18 months until the year of designation.

The expert panel “asked about an apparent loss of enthusiasm on the communication of the initiative and where there was a gap between the project on the one hand and the city and its communities on the other hand”.
This is a preview only. To read the rest of this article on Galway 2020 and the expert panel’s recommendations, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here.

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