Ten-month countdown as white flag is raised on Capital of Culture bid

Galway city has less than a year to make a full application to become the European Capital of Culture 2020, following the Government’s announcement last evening to hold an open competition for an Irish city to be selected for the prestigious title. An Irish city and a Croatian city will jointly hold the European Capital of Culture title, while Galway’s main competitors including Limerick, Dublin, and a joint bid made up of Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford. The final selection will be made towards the end of 2015 and the winning city announced in late summer/early autumn 2016. The announcement of the competition by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, has been described by Fine Gael senator Hildegarde Naughton as “very important” as the absence of formal Government guidelines was “causing anxiety locally”…READ MORE.