2009 – The year that was

Padraic O’Connor asks Maeve Mulrennan, Gugai, Fergal McGrath and Kevin Healy for their highlights of the entertainment year that was

2009 was a tough year for everyone, with financial and employment difficulties, but how did it affect the arts and entertainment in Galway?

VISUAL ARTS/CÚIRT – Maeve Mulrennan from Galway Arts Centre

So how was 2009 for the Galway Arts Centre?

2009 has been great for all of us; we engaged with most of the festivals in Galway - including the Volvo Race. Our class numbers are up, with many people choosing to spend their money learning new skills and meeting people. It has been hard to work under the constant shadow of financial cuts, but we made it our priority to show the Government how much the arts matter in Galway: we did more shows, plays, festivals and events than ever!

A few highlights from the year?

This year's Galway Theatre Festival enjoyed a healthy box office, despite the economic climate and featured ten theatre companies, three of which made their company debut at this year's event.

Cúirt 2009 proved to be an exceptional event that drew writers from all over the world. The visual arts highlights were our ‘In Search of Utopia’ exhibition for the Volvo Race, Amanda Coogan’s Tulca performance ‘Yellow’ in Nun’s Island and our exhibition by Ruth Le Gear for Baboro. We had 1,149 schoolchildren though our doors over the two weeks to do workshops!

Looking forward to 2010?

We have a full and varied programme for 2010, partly due to our increased audiences, particularly for classes. We’ll have a lot of solo exhibitions and are also touring a group exhibition to New York. 2010 is the 25^th birthday for Cúirt and there are lots of fantastic writers and surprises – although nothing can be revealed until April!

LIVE MUSIC –Gugai from Róisín Dubh 

How was 2009 for live music? 

It was a tough enough year over all, but we managed to squeeze in an awful lot of amazing shows, so it was worth the hard work.

A few highlights from the year?

Well, I've been working at bringing Modest Mouse to Galway for almost ten years, so that was a real coup for the Róisín Dubh. Other than that, Fujiya & Miyagi, O'Death, The Redneck Manifesto, Blitzen Trapper and Final Fantasy were excellent, and we had outstanding shows with The Hot 8 Brass Band, Candi Staton, Okkervil River, The New York Dolls, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Booker T, Ray LaMontagne and The Gutter Twins.

Looking forward to 2010?

2010 is going to be a great year - we have some fantastic shows coming up. Lost Chord have their album launch in January. Peter Doherty is back, as are Gemma Hayes and Mick Flannery. Finlay Quaye is coming over and Newton Faulkner is doing a show in the Radisson at the end of February. We also have Wild Beasts and Two Door Cinema Club coming up at Strange Brew. It'll be a good year! 

THEATRE/MUSIC - Fergal McGrath from Town Hall Theatre

So how was 2009 for the Town Hall Theatre?

It's been very busy - and a bit of a rollercoaster really, with paid attendances up 25 per cent in the first five months and down more than 20 per cent in recent months. But, given the current economic climate and also that 2008 was our best year ever here (up 35% on previous to 135,000 seats sold), I guess we shouldn't complain too much about the drop in 2009.