Dublin culture city bid fails

THE bid to have Dublin selected as European Capital of Culture 2020 has failed to make the shortlist of Irish cities.

Galway, Limerick and Waterford (incorporating Wexford and Kilkenny) have been named as Ireland’s remaining contenders for the title.

The decision was made by a panel of independent experts who evaluated applications from the four competing Irish cities during a two-day meeting in Dublin.

Hundreds of thousands of euro was spent on the Dublin2020 bid and the campaign team spent months trying to build awareness in an effort to claim the honour for the capital.

Activities and artistic collaborations included in the effort were the Dublin You Are video, featuring a poem by Stephen James Smith and the We Are Dublin2020 video portrait series by Wissame Cherfi.

Other projects were Humans of Dublin2020, which saw teenager Jamie Harrington’s story of saving a man’s life make headlines across the globe and the Dublin Made Me food market.

There was also a number of free gigs and workshops held around the city.

Bid Director Ray Yeates expressed disappointment in failing to make the shortlist.

“Dublin would like to congratulate the shortlisted cities for the European Capital of Culture second round,” he said.

“The Dublin2020 team worked tirelessly to prepare a very strong bid and all of the great learning and new ideas will benefit Dublin for many years to come.

“Naturally we are disappointed but Dublin is looking forward to supporting the winning city in every way.”

The Dublin2020 team thanked artists, collaborators and Dubliners who they said had shown that the culture of the city will continue to be celebrated every day.