To describe Cork's tenure next year as European Capital of Culture as "a resurgent moment in the life" of the city, as the Mayor, Councillor Seán Martin has done, is both concise and accurate. It is also a showcase opportunity that - in terms of the cultural events lined up for 2005 - has been responded to with laudable imagination and flair by those who took on the challenge to match vision with event.
Blending distinctively local creativity with a rich and diverse array of national and international artistic endeavour has produced a cornucopia that offers Cork and its visitors much to enjoy and celebrate over the coming year. The Cork 2005 team has come up with a calendar of more than 220 events that range from music, literature, theatre and the visual arts to community projects, debate and - appropriately in a county with a distinguished tradition in this area - sport. That all of this is being generated on a very meagre budget - €13.5 million compared to the €73 million in funds available to this year's title-holder, the French city of Lille - makes the achievement even more of a triumph.
The programmers, in devising their blueprint, took a brave step: they invited ideas rather than taking a directly curatorial route. This open-arms approach, with the object of ensuring a sense of local ownership and inclusion, obviously introduced the risk of alienating some of those whose projects did not come through the selection process. But that is in the nature of any public tender.
The decision to wait until now to unveil Cork 2005 has its local critics who say it is too late, but a premature release of the programme in its entirety could well have induced Cork 2005 fatigue before any opening event.
A lasting legacy of capital of culture is the urban regeneration that usually accompanies the cultural activity, the spur to renew and enhance the local environment - and Cork, it appears, will be no exception. The transformation of the city is everywhere in evidence from the recently-completed rejuvenation of Patrick Street to the opening this week of the Lewis Glucksman Gallery in UCC, an exhibition space of world class. One major disappointment is the continuing lack of any real progress on the new School of Music; a construction site would be more reassuring than statements of intent.
There is, ultimately, enormous potential for a boost to the city's cultural tourism - it will be one of the measures of the success of Cork 2005. What must now be ensured is that our propensity for price rip-off and hiking the cost of accommodation and eating out on festive occasions does not become a feature of Cork 2005.