Diversity Day A Success In Spite Of All Obstacles

cork | arts and media | news report Monday September 20, 2004 23:19 by Ray Hanrahan - Diversity Day Organising Group hanrahanone at hotmail dot com 7 Adelaide Place, Gardiner's Hill, Cork 087 9510182 (but isn't always on)

The third annual Diversity Day festival happened yesterday at Bishop Lucey Park (aka ‘the peace park’) in Cork yesterday, the 19th of September, and was widely acclaimed as a success. There was a wide variety of acts and exhibitors, and a crowd in the hundreds lapped up the entrtainment and informative stalls provided free of charge by the participants. There were hassles with insurance and with the access to the park, but all in all it was a successful third festival. Here's hoping that Diversity Day will continue to flourish long into the future!

The third annual Diversity Day festival happened yesterday at Bishop Lucey Park (aka ‘the peace park’) in Cork yesterday, the 19th of September, and was widely acclaimed as a success by those who attended and by participants. The festival ran from 12:30 until 7:00, and attracted hundreds of happy and appreciative people. The success of the event was helped by the forbearance of the Irish weather, which wisely chose not to rain on the city’s premier (and only) multicultural festival.
On the music front, there was a full and varied list of performers ranging from Congolese popular music to European folk dancers to Irish trad to reggae to capoeira and so much else besides. Many thanks are due to all the acts, who gave their time and skills free of charge, and who made us all smile so broadly. Special thanks too to the guys who supplied and erected the geodome stage, which served the bands excellently.
Exhibitors at the event ranged from the Cork cycling project to Amnesty to the Congolese Irish Partnership to TASS to Food Not Bombs and several more. The Cork Community Circus provided activities for children of all ages and a crew of experienced (and entertaining!) storytellers enthralled their listeners. Face painting also proved a hit with the public. The author apologises to any participants who didn’t get mentioned by name, as the poor fellow has not yet fully recovered from the day’s excitements.
A big thank you also goes out to the public of Cork city, who contributed so generously to the collection for the event’s expenses, and to the organising group for the day for putting in so much time and energy (not to mention the calling in of favours, at great personal risk) at very short notice. Also, thanks to Taz and the boys for stewarding the festival with tact and aplomb.
All in all, the third Diversity Day gave eloquent witness to the variety of people, cultures, and viewpoints in Cork, and it bodes well for future Diversity Days, and for the civic health of the city.
Every silver lining has its cloud, however. Having received an insurance quotation in writing earlier in the week, the organisers paid the specified fee in good faith, on last Tuesday. At the very last minute (about 4 o’clock on Friday afternoon, the latest possible time for lodging the insurance bond with City Hall), the event insurers made a disgraceful bid to extort more money (35% more than the original figure quoted) from the organisers of the event, and while this was happening, city officials played hardball (‘no bond – no event!’). The poor organisers were caught between the hammer of their event insurance brokers and the anvil of an uncooperative City Hall. This meant that Diversity Day proceeded under a financial cloud not of its own making, and contractors who provided services on the understanding that they would be paid might yet be left out of pocket. This attempt at extortion will be fought, for if this succeeds, it will set a disastrous precedent for future Diversity Days, and for other grassroots/voluntary/non-commercial public festivals in Cork, and nationally.
Another issue was the state of the Grand Parade entrance to the park. Frankly, the pavement leading up to the entrance was left only half-repaired, and was in a most dangerous state. In fact, Joe and the other geodome erectors had to effect temporary repairs to the pavement so that participants and patrons could enter, or bring in materials in safety. The start of the mini-marathon on the same stretch of Grand Parade added heavily to the pedestrian traffic there, but luckily no accident happened, to the best of the reporter’s knowledge. City Council had advance notice of Diversity Day (and the mini-marathon too), and could have rescheduled the repairs to the pavement accordingly. Leaving the pavement outside the park entrance in such a hazardous state while at the same time demanding that the event organisers indemnify the council beggars belief. I don’t mean to be too down on City Hall (we really do appreciate the use of the park for the day, and thanks to the park staff who were unfailingly courteous and helpful), but if the same half-arsed approach continues in 2005, then heaven help the image of Cork city and the City of Culture project!