´óÏó´«Ã½

I was up in my hometown of DerryÌýyesterday to chair a public forum about the city's bid for the UK City of Culture 2013. Now operating under the official unofficial title Derry~Londonderry (not aÌýstroke in sight!), the cityÌýis one of 14Ìýin the competition now. Early next monthÌýit could beÌýshortlisted toÌý3, possibly 5,ÌýandÌýthe winning city will beÌýannounced in June.

There was alot of excitement and energy in the room, we were all given a glossy brochure "Cracking the Cultural Code", the forward was a passionately written letterÌýby Seamus Heaney one of the city's cultural champions, "that the omens are encouraging" he writes. There wereÌýspeeches, Q & A and what were termed break out groups when, for about an hour,Ìýthe people there were able to air their views on theÌýinitial bid.

Derry City Council is leading the bid, along with ILEX (the urban regeneration company and the Strategic Investment Board for Northern Ireland.) But this was the first time a wider arts group of artists, film makers, curators and administratorsÌýwere consulted.ÌýÌý

Some people there seemedÌýgenuinely encouraged by the bid. Some not so,Ìýthey said that they were worried, angry even,Ìýthat not enough was done at an earlier stage to talk toÌýthem.

It has been said thatÌýthe bid was rushed. That much wasÌýadmitted yesterday.Ìý And while there was a residual feeling of "why talk now, we might not even get shortlisted in a few weeks, what's the point", it was theÌýfirst time I have ever seen such a group of people come together to talk about a cultural vision.Ìý

Derry City Council was criticised after IMPACT 92, the year-long festival of arts and culture in the early nineties, for not keeping the momentum going in the years that followed.

18 years and a new generation later the chance has come again. Even though one of the teenagers at yesterday's event said she had only heard about the City of Culture bid the day before, was told to come along to the workshop and "be positive"!Ìý

Now I don't know ifÌýDerry will be shortlistedÌýbut, as was said to me yesterday,Ìýwhen Belfast didn't get shortlisted for the European Capital of Culture 2008, it turned out to be the most successful failure ever. Belfast and Northern Ireland gotÌýa funding windfall forÌýculture and theÌýarts, and many of the new builds we're seeing today came from that initial desire to be a cultural capital.

I'm not saying let's aim to be a successful failure, nor am I ignoring the voices anxious to see the bid work, but worried that the moment has gone. Maybe we should look at the very powerful lines from Heaney's "The Cure at Troy" quoted on the front cover of the bidÌý

"So hope for a great sea-change

on the far side of revenge.

Believe that a further shore

is reachable from here.

Believe in miracles

and cures and healing wells"

Ìý

Ìý

Ìý