These are stirring times for the Cork Regional Technical College. First, the Minister for Education, Mr Martin, announced its upgrading to institute status, and then the college, which will have to be described as an institute in all official documents after Christmas, launched its most successful Cork Arts Festival.
Cork has a lively cultural diversity. It is seen in its theatres, its music, the jaundiced view, the critical view it is capable of taking of itself. Not many would believe that, mind you, but it is true. The arts are now and always have been a core interest in the city. From student drama to the professional stage, Cork is constantly being examined and explored - how it got to where it is - where it is now.
Only a city proud enough of itself to mock its own accent could have spawned a Niall Toibin, who then went on to make a virtue and a living out of mimicking every other regional accent in the State. Toibin, by his own proud admission, is first and last a son of Cork, but an irreverent one. So, back to the students. I described recently what the status of institute means to the student body at the college. Enough of that - it is about to happen. But a buzzing campus has had more on its mind than the politics of having an elevated status. The Cork RTC Arts Festival, sponsored by Murphy's Brewery, the Arts Council, RTE in Cork, and Cork Corporation, is by now well under way. As it progresses, the festival is celebrating its fifth year of existence. The RTC - should I say Institute? - believes it ranks as one of the foremost of its kind in the State.
The programme features the visual arts, music, drama, film, poetry and dance.
Last night, the festival was opened by the Minister for the Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera. The Minister had competition - the Cork School of Music Big Band was playing in the west atrium of the college to mark the occasion.
But Ms de Valera didn't hurry away. She performed the official opening and was still around at 6.30 p.m. to open various accompanying events, including an exhibition at the College of Arts and Design, a celebration of 50 years of the Alliance Francaise at St Mary Street and a photographic exhibition by Muiris Moynihan at the RTC library.
Today, Cork RTC students are presenting the Tain Bo Cuailgne - admission free - at the college. There is also a flute master class and an amateur drama initiative. Tomorrow, at 8 p.m. in City Hall, there will be an opera gala with Ignacio Encinas (tenor), Barbara Kilduff (soprano), Julian Konstantinov (bass), and the Carrigaline Singers. The students were unlikely to ignore the music of the late Rory Gallagher and remembered him in a lecture last Saturday at the Firkin Crane by P.J. Curtis, entitled "The Rory Gallagher Memorial Lecture - the Slide Area, a Brief History of the Slide Guitar". Gallagher played at the festival in 1993. It was to be his last concert in Ireland.
The following year, Seamus Heaney gave an evening poetry reading which is still talked about. The festival has played host to a variety of traditional musicians, like Mairtin O'Connor, Frankie Gavin and Joe Burke, as well as international acts, while never forgetting its strong community dimension. Next Sunday, Altan will perform at Cork's restored Everyman Theatre. Earlier in the week, Ciaran Mac Mathuna was in town to present a concert featuring Paddy Glacken and Eithne Ni Uallachain. E. All in all, the festival, the good vibes that were created and the quality on offer have left the State's newest Institute of Technology feeling pretty good.