Cork 2005 gets extra €1.5m from State
This latest investment brings total Government contributions to €7.85m and also makes it the biggest overall contributor to Cork 2005.
Cork City Council has put €6.5m into the year-long programme, with the EU contributing €500,000. It is expected that a further €5m to €7m will be raised in commercial sponsorship.
The extra State funding is ring-fenced to fund large, public events. The sum cannot be spent on administration, public relations or marketing.
“We hope this will lead to greater participation by the general public in Cork 2005,” the minister said, who added that the amount of public funding for Cork 2005 was significant “in the Irish context”.
Cork 2005 director John Kennedy said he was delighted with the news of the funding increase. “It’s a vote of confidence.”
Mr Kennedy said the target of €5m to €7m from private sponsorship was on track, but the recent flood damage to businesses made it difficult for some to contribute at this time.
“I think we’ll achieve our target figure in terms of private sponsorship,” he added, however, “although we’re not there yet,” he said.
With this latest sum from Government, the total budget for Cork 2005 is in the region of €21.5m.
That compares with an average budget in excess of €30m for previous cities of culture, with Lille and Gratz having budgets of in or around €75m and €65m, respectively.
Mr Kennedy said it was “folly” to compare one Capital of Culture city to another.
Cork will be the smallest city ever to hold the title, he added.
With a 5-to-1 return to spend ratio in the world of the arts, a budget of €21.5m should result in up to €107.5m being spent by people coming to Cork next year.
