“THERE’S NOTHING sinister about this, Minister, I love you Minister, I love you, I do . . .”
A serenade by performer Little John Nee and a tango by members of the Galway Contempo Quartet marked a warm welcome to Galway for Minister for Culture Mary Hanafin yesterday. Ms Hanafin was in town for the first night of the Galway Arts Festival.
A number of artists greeted the Minister with elderflower cordial and buns at the site for the city’s new arthouse cinema, the Picture Palace. There, film-maker and activist Lelia Doolan and Picture Palace project manager Tracy Geraghty invited her and fellow politicians to “become an artist for a day”, as part of a national campaign to highlight the importance of the arts. Ms Hanafin was receptive, noting that it was a much better suggestion than several others she had heard recently.
Last night, Ms Hanafin said that Galway’s arts festival had helped establish the western capital as a “cultural tourism destination”. She spoke of a “strong Government commitment” to supporting and promoting the arts through festivals such as this one, with funding provided by the Arts Council and Fáilte Ireland of over €650,000 to the event in 2010.
Several hundred attended the launch, including jazz musician Brad Mehldau, who performed last night; Andrew Hilton, director of the Bristol Old Vic’s Uncle Vanya; members of the Oxford Playhouse, Corn Exchange Theatre and Druid Theatre companies, along with politicians including Mayor of Galway Michael Crowe (FF).
Galway Arts Festival’s managing director John Crumlish also spoke of cultural tourism, saying that the festival’s direct economic impact was €19.4 million in 2009.
Druid Theatre's production of Enda Walsh's Penelopehas its world premier tonight as part of a packed programme running over the next fortnight, with the annual Macnas parade, The Wild Hunt, taking place on Sunday at 2pm.