Belfast to be 'lead partner' in European Capital of Culture bid

by Gareth Cross

Belfast is set to be the lead partner of their joint European Capital of Culture 2023 bid with Derry and Strabane.

The information came to light at a full meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council at the Guildhall last week.

Councillors were updated on the current status to the bid by council representatives.

Sinn Fein councillor Paul Fleming noted that there were issues around the bid but that he expected them to be sorted out between stage one and two of the bidding process.

He told council that he wanted the maximum benefit for Derry and Strabane but admitted that although 'we all want Derry to be the lead' that the European advisers employed by council to advise them had 'been very clear on how we should proceed'.

Cllr Fleming said that 'regardless of who's the lead the benefits remain'.

Independent councillor Paul Gallagher told the meeting that he had 'concerns around Belfast being the lead'.

He described the bid as a 'major financial risk' and said that the council was not 'cash rich'.

Cllr Gallagher said that 'we appear to be shoring up the Belfast bid with all the risk. It's a proposal we may lose with a financial commitment'.

He noted that the financial loss for us 'would be much bigger for us than Belfast'.

SDLP councillor Martin Reilly said that he shared the view that Derry could have been the lead city.

Benefits He acknowledged the benefits if the bid was successful and said that it could 'transform our economic fortunes'.

Cllr Reilly queried if all political party leaders and the Secretary of State supported the bid, noting that SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood had given his support.

He also raised the issue of the legacy of the 2013 City of Culture year.

Cllr Reilly told council that a 'significant amount' of ratepayers money was put into it and central funding did not materialise as hoped.

He said it was important to know what the long-term benefits of this bid would be and if it would be equal with Belfast.

Cllr Reilly admitted that there was 'a lot of work to be done' and called for 'Derry's voice to be heard, and heard loudly'.

DUP councillor Hilary McClintock said council had much to offer to the bid due to experience from 2013.

Alderman McClintock said there was lots to gain from the bid for the city and region and that success would be 'fantastic'.

Council Chief Executive John Kelpie said that the bid was not a 'financial risk' at this stage as council was only committing to spend £6.5m 'in principle' ahead of the bid deadline on October 27th.

Funding He said that if the bid was successful at getting to the next stage council would have eight months to source £55m in outside funding.

Mr Kelpie told council that their commitment was small in the overall picture and they would get that back many times over if successful. He said council's financial commitment so far had been 'very, very minimal'.

Mr Kelpie confirmed that both names were going forward as part of the bid and the official title would be 'Belfast in partnership with Derry'.

He said that there would be benefits for both cities with Derry having previously experienced the success of City of Culture resulting in £160m investment and high rises in tourism rates.

Mr Kelpie told council that the bid could lead to a 'new way of working between the two cities' and said that both council's teams had been working very well together.

Cllr Gallagher said that council had already spent hundreds of thousands on the bid and that he felt it was a 'major risk'.

He told the meeting that many cities would bid and that they would all have their own experts helping them.

The bid was supported by all councillors except Alderman Maurice Devenney who abstained.