10/12/04
Hopes dashed as U2 say no to Cork 2005 gig

By Ian Kilroy, Arts Editor
U2 last night said it will not perform as part of Cork"™s European Capital of Culture - dashing hopes the super-group would be one of the highlights of the year-long celebrations.

There had been widespread speculation the group would play as Cork 2005 director John Kennedy is closely associated with the band, having acted as its production manager and tour director for a number of years.

Mr Kennedy told the Irish Examiner he had made a bid for the band to come to Cork.

But last night the band"™s manager, Paul McGuinness, told the Irish Examiner: "U2 have no plans to play Cork in 2005."

Reacting to criticisms Cork 2005 contains few big highlights, Mr Kennedy said the decision had been made to go for a "sustained" rather than a "blockbuster" approach in the programming.


"How could it be any different when the investment is so low?" Mr Kennedy said.

"I was handling much bigger budgets than this to put four guys on a stage every night," said Mr Kennedy, referring to his days with U2.

The total budget for Cork"™s European Capital of Culture year is less than €15 million, far less than other cities have had.

Past capitals of culture have had €75m to spend, in the case of Lille, and €65m, in the case of Graz.

Liverpool, which will be European Capital of Culture in 2008, is believed to have a budget of around €100m already at its disposal.

With such a small budget for Cork, Mr Kennedy said the decision had been made to spend the money on programming rather than on marketing next year"™s events.

It is a decision that has led to criticism in Cork that people feel disconnected from the Capital of Culture year and that Cork 2005 has communicated poorly with the local community.

City manager Joe Gavin and Mr Kennedy said rumours Mr Kennedy had left his position as director this week were totally baseless. There is not now and never was a disagreement between them, both men insisted.


Fuente: [www.irishexaminer.com]