City of Culture critics on wrong platform

ON two consecutive weeks recently, letters claiming to have been written by visitors from England have appeared in your letters column.

Significantly, the pattern in each is almost identical. The visitors expected great things in a European Capital of Culture. They were disappointed in what they found in Cork and then went on to castigate the city.

The first pair came on the weekend of the choral festival. They dismissed that on the basis that it happens every year. Now the Cork choral festival is rated as one of the best in the world. This year’s festival reached even greater heights of perfection than in any previous year, filling halls, churches and other public spaces with glorious music.