Galway is a city with a population of 79,000 and is located in west Ireland in the region of Galway which has a total population of 258,000. The project was presented by Marilyn Reddan who underscored that the main objective of being involved in the project was to expand the notion of culture to incorporate science, technology, education and other fields.
The project consists of three fundamental components: language, migration and landscape.
Language is an important element of identity and in that region Gaelic is spoken by a high percentage of people who use it in everyday communication. On the other hand 24% of Galway's population are not Irish and speak their own languages, Reddan said. Galway does not have any large monumental buildings as part of a cultural infrastructure and the focus will be on the exquisite landscape and people, she said.
One of the sections of the programme is "Hope it rains" as an ironical approach to the frequent rains in Galway and so some elements of the programme will be conducted in the rain, she said. Small communities will participate in the "Small Town/Big Ideas program with "An Artist in every place" promoting creativity and the idea that anyone can be an artist, scientist or engineer.
Galway's budget as ECC 2020 amounts to 45.7 million euro, 33.3 million is earmarked for the programmes themselves and 5.5. million euro is for advertising and marketing activities.