Galway, Limerick and the Waterford Three Sisters bids have been "shortlisted" to proceed to the next stage of selection for European Capital of Culture 2020.
The only other entry, from Dublin, has been knocked out.
The European Capital of Culture is an initiative of the European Union and has been running since 1985. Dublin and Cork have held the title in 1991 and 2005 respectively.
The 2020 winning cities, one from Ireland and one from Croatia, will take the title for a year and receive a prize of €1.5 million.
Announcing the shortlist in Dublin Castle on Friday evening, Steve Green, from the competition’s selection and monitoring panel, said all four entrants did a wonderful job.
“Our decision is not based on what the city is now, it’s based on the programme that was presented to us and what is intended to be carried out, that’s the key element of it,” he said.
The three shortlisted cities will receive reports from the panel, and will have until mid-2016 to flesh out their applications. The expert panel will then meet again and results are expected in July.
Dublin disappointed
Speaking after the announcement, Ray Yeates, Dublin City Council arts officer, said they were disappointed at being eliminated.
“But we got an awful lot out of doing it; we have a whole new vision for culture now in the city that we developed throughout the bid,” he said.
“It’s hard because we were so keyed up; it was kind of like x-factor waiting for the results, having said that, we wish all of the other cities well and would love to work with them in the future.”
All three of the shortlisted bidders said they were delighted to be through and did not underestimate the work ahead.
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphreys, who did not attend the event, said she congratulated Galway, Limerick and Waterford, which is leading a regional bid with Kilkenny and Wexford.
She said the designation presented a unique and important opportunity to showcase a city, bringing with it an unprecedented focus at local, national and international level.
“It will allow the winning city, and Ireland as a whole, to put our best cultural foot forward,” she said.
She wished the three entries good luck over the next six months and said she would also like to acknowledge “the commitment, drive, and enthusiasm” demonstrated by Dublin.
The Croatian cities, shortlisted from nine entries, are Dubrovnik, Osijek, Pula and Rijeka.
This year’s European Capitals of Culture are Wroclaw, in Poland, and San Sebastián in Spain.
