FOI shows Galway 2020 ‘confident’ issue could be resolved

Two weeks before it lost its creative director, Galway 2020 told officials working for Minister for Culture Josepha Madigan it was “confident the issue could be concluded satisfactorily”.

The “possible departure” of Galway 2020’s Creative Director, Chris Baldwin was first flagged by Declan McGonagle, the minister’s representative on the board of Galway 2020, in a briefing to Feargal Ó Coigligh, an official in the minister’s department, on May 16.

“Dialogue on this is ongoing at this time but Galway 2020 was confident the issue could be concluded satisfactorily,” according to minutes of the meeting, released to the Galway City Tribune under Freedom of Information.

Two weeks later, on May 30, Galway 2020 officially confirmed Mr Baldwin’s departure “by mutual agreement”.

Meanwhile, five days after that, the records show, Galway 2020 had approached Martin Green, former director of Hull UK City of Culture 2017 to help them out.

An email sent at 9.25pm on the night before the story of Mr Baldwin’s departure broke, Mr McGonagle told Mr Ó Coigligh of the impending departure, “ahead of any press pick-up”.

“Apologies for cutting into your evening. Just wanted to update on the Board meeting and decisions today. The ‘deal’ with Creative Director was due to be signed off by the end of business today, having been agreed earlier by the Board. Sill awaiting sign off on terms as previously indicated to you.

“The PR on this is ready to go with an agreed statement i.e. leaving ‘by mutual agreement’ with some reconfiguration of structure to focus on the next phase”.

He said he was telling him this because Chief Executive of Galway City Council Brendan McGrath had a meeting with City Councillors earlier that afternoon, which was attended by journalists, and “he felt that they might have had some information on this and there is a possibility that something on this situation could appear shortly, maybe even tomorrow”.

He said that Baldwin’s departure statement would include a sentence outlining Galway 2020 Board’s “intention is to have an artistic/creative leadership role in place in the near future with no loss of momentum, following enlargement of the team”.

Mr McGonagle said: “This is verbally agreed, after legal advice, and I have just got a message that the agreement has now been signed by Chris (Baldwin).”

Parts of this and other emails pertaining to the severance ‘deal’ between Galway 2020 and Mr Baldwin were redacted in the FOIs because it contained personal information.

Five days after it officially announced Mr Baldwin’s departure, on June 5, Minister Madigan’s officials were informed that Galway 2020 had “approached Martin Green, former Director of Hull (Uk City of Culture 2017).”

Mr McGonagle, in an email to Mr Ó Coigligh, said: “Martin Green is widely acknowledged to have developed and directed a very successful cultural programme for Hull and has serious credibility in the field, dating also from the successful cultural programme he led during and after the 2012 London Olympics. He will visit Galway on June 11 to finalise a focused brief for his work. He will be available at times during June but will spend the month of July in Galway.

“This is a particularly useful period in the city because of the (arts) Festival and the attendance of arts/cultural practitioners and media, with whom he will interact as well setting up and continuing to develop relations with local/regional partners. This is, in the circumstances, a very positive step and will, as intended, bridge 2020 to the full strategic appointment.”

Mr McGonagle added that “Minister (Madigan) seemed content that the momentum would not be disrupted and that we needed to ‘get on’. That is what this immediate process will facilitate

Mr Green – who has not yet officially been confirmed by Galway 2020 as having been hired as a consultant – visited Galway on June 11, according to the emails.