Fresh concerns over Galway 2020 ‘crisis’

Galway City Tribune – After a week of turmoil on the local arts scene, the question on everyone’s lips is: How much has the latest Galway 2020 crisis cost the public purse?

The European Capital of Culture project was plunged into disarray Tuesday, when a former city mayor, Councillor Pádraig Conneely (FG) asked in a public forum for clarity on whether the Galway 2020 Artistic Director Chris Baldwin “had resigned or was resigning”.

Chief Executive of Galway City Council, Brendan McGrath wouldn’t confirm or deny the rumour that had been circulating in business, political and artistic circles over the weekend.

However, speaking at the Economic Development, Enterprise Support and Cultural SPC (Strategic Policy Committee), Mr McGrath rejected a charge from SPC chairman, Councillor Conneely, who said there was a “confidence crisis” at the heart of Galway 2020.

Mr McGrath said he had “complete confidence” in Galway 2020 and said the matter “will be brought to a positive conclusion shortly”.

On Wednesday, Chairperson of the Board of Galway 2020, Aideen McGinley, went on the Keith Finnegan Show on Galway Bay fm and appeared to indicate that Mr Baldwin had indeed left the project, but she gave no reason why.

Several hours later, Galway 2020 issued a statement – 24 hours after the staffing issues were brought into the public domain – confirming Mr Baldwin “leaves the organisation by mutual agreement”.

The statement did not say why he was leaving but it added: “The Board of Galway 2020 would like to thank him for his contribution to date and wish him well in the future.”

Galway 2020 denied there was a confidence crisis. It said: “No. Everything is proceeding well with the development of what will be a world class cultural programme for Galway 2020. We have an excellent Board and Executive team in place. As we move into the delivery phase of the programme we are building the team.

“In the past couple of weeks, we have appointed several new people to the team which now stands at 18 and will grow further over the next 12 months. We have three new cultural producers joining the team in the next few weeks who will have responsibility for Visual Arts, our flagship programme Small Towns Big Ideas and Audience Development.”
For extensive coverage on the Galway 2020 ‘crisis’, see this week’s Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week’s paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.