Vol. 414 No. 9
1 Mr. Quinn asked the Taoiseach the plans, if any, he has to conclude the year as Dublin European City of Culture; if he intends to give a comprehensive report to the Oireachtas regarding his Department's handling of the year of culture; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
As I informed the House in a comprehensive reply on 12 March last, the Government entrusted the task of organising the celebration of Dublin as European City of Culture in 1991 to Dublin Promotions Organisations Limited (DPOL). My Department provided a grant of £1.25 million to DPOL to facilitate their work, and also assisted the national cultural agencies in playing a full role in this context.
Dublin's year as European City of Culture has left behind it, as we had hoped, a number of permanent contributions to the cultural life of our capital city. These included: the revival of Temple Bar; the new Irish Museum of Modern Art; a restored Custom House and the Dublin Writers' Museum.
Any special function or event to conclude Dublin's year as European City of Culture is entirely one for DPOL. I should like to take this opportunity to congratulate DPOL on the work they did to organise what is generally regarded as a highly successful programme of cultural events of broad appeal to all citizens.
The year has also won international recognition. As an illustration of this I would like to quote from Le Monde of 6 December which states: “Dublin, the city of the three Nobel prizes for literature, ends its year as European Cultural Capital after an innumerable quantity of events, crowned in the autumn by a great theatrical season of 19 plays by Samuel Beckett at the Gate, and by the proclamation of European literature and translation prizes, at a banquet at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, the Invalides of old Soldiers, transformed into a superb centre of culture and modern art.
