The Irish city which is to be the European City of Culture in 2005 is expected to be known by early February following applications made by Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. Dublin is excluded from the contest because it held the title in 1991.
According to Ms Sheila Deegan, arts officer with Limerick Corporation, the Council of Europe's cultural committee will be the judge of the contest after the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands opted to forward the four applications instead of just one for ratification.
Central to Limerick's application is the theme of the Shannon, the State's longest waterway which meets the Atlantic at the entrance to the city.
"Limerick is symbolically located in a unique position to explore the confluence of Irish culture and international culture, in a creative search for identity - personal, local, national and European - as it emerges out of the quiet minute of opposing flows and tensions," the application says.
New performing spaces are to be developed at three Shannon locations. Among them will be a waterfront location for the Belltable Arts Centre at Arthur's Quay and a performing arts village on the Shannon's banks, a plan being developed by UL with the Government.
River-based performances will become practical off Arthur's Quay when the new drainage system and weir are completed. "These waterside areas can accommodate a public audience of 25,000 people, based on a conservative estimate of the turnout for the millennium New Year's Eve celebrations," the submission says.
The "natural amphitheatre" created by the surrounding banks would be used for a free contemporary opera performance, "Opera on the Island," on a specially-constructed pontoon over three weekends. "The production will also seek the participation of successful Limerick people in devising elements of the opera," it says.
Other events signalled for 2005 are a performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony with a thousand-strong choir; a theatre service aimed at four different age groups; and a Family Sculpture Day. A series of exhibitions exploring Celtic consciousness will be mounted in association with the Hunt Museum, looking at the contribution of Irish monks to European civilisation in the Dark Ages.
If Limerick is selected, the city envisages spending £19 million on the arts between 2001 and 2005, £6.7 million of which is an extra allocation for spending on events specific to the European City of Culture award. Of this, £2.3 million would be spent on commissioned events.
The city manager, Mr Brendan Keating, said the preparation of the submission had been a unique exercise which included an audit of what was already established. "As a consequence of the process, we now realise there is a need for better co-ordination among the various different agencies," he said.
Government funding of up to £5 million is available to the successful applicant city, provided the amount does not exceed 50 per cent of the overall cost of the event. EU funding of about one million euros (£787,564) is also likely to be made available.
The strategic objectives of the submission are to restore Limerick as a place of which its citizens can be proud, to represent the State as a standard-bearer for its culture and to welcome the international community to the city.
The Mayor of Limerick, Cllr John Ryan, said more than 70 organisations had combined to put forward the proposal.
"If and when we win, we will have a major consultative process with people in the city and surrounding areas on how we showcase Limerick within not just Europe but the world."
Major events hosted in the past include the papal visit in 1979, the Charter 800 celebrations in 1997 and the World Corporate Games last year. According to the submission, there is "an abundance of creativity" for the staging of international events in 2005.