Galway was named European Capital of Culture 2020 last week despite the submission of a poem that completely rips the city apart.
Our Killer City, by poet Rita Ann Miller, was commissioned by the Galway 2020 committee that beat competition from Limerick and the ‘Three Sisters’ region of Waterford, Kilkenny and Wexford earlier this week.
What the organisers didn’t count on, however, was what the Sunday Independent describes as a ‘devastating critique‘ of the county by the poet.
She absolutely tears her native city apart, repeatedly writing ‘this is pity city, shitty city’ as she goes to town on high rents, sewage, car parking charges in hospitals, bias against the travelling community and the city’s university.
‘We’ll end up crowned the capital of fools,’ she writes.
Whether or not this was used in the city’s final bid is not known, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it got accidentally filed away by an ‘overpaid consultant.’
Our Killer City, by Rita Ann Miller
Galway’s bid to win Capital of Culture is all twenty twenty give the horse plenty.
We’re in with a great chance, until they hear about the legionnaires’ disease outbreak in the fire station, where our life savers need saving.
The birds are tweeting about the arrival of the jury this July.
The word is out they’ll rule on the bid.
Best to keep them councillors out of sight, with the malarkey they go on with, in city hall.
Govern, govern my arse they wouldn’t govern a sly fart on a runway.
We’ll end up crowned the capital of fools.
My ogyny, your ogyny, misogyny.
We laugh about it at bus stops.
We say, aren’t some of our elected representatives a laughing stock.
We’ll never get Capital of Culture if they look through that window.
Some people live their lives so they can die on a trolley in Galway’s A&E.
Just wait and wait and wait and you’ll die waiting.
Eighteen million on a new block and not a new bed in sight or on site.
The swans in the canals all know, we underpay our nurses we underpay our teachers we overpay our consultants and we don’t know why.
This is fair-play city, or unfair play city if you are a woman working for years in NUIG and hoping for a promotion.
Hashtag-go-Micheline-go.
This is pity city, shitty city.
Sewage in your nostrils city.
This is Galway city of expert panels.
City of slickers and slackers who name-call Travellers knackers.
If you want the odour of outrage ask the students at GMIT who have to re-sit exams.
Allegations of cheating.
Oh no not this again.
They are coming in July to rule on the bid.
We’ll hide that bit of news about the GMIT and the gender discrimination in NUIG in the parlour that never gets used.
To that we’ll throw the new block, the bedless block at University Hospital Galway.
This is Galway slicker and slacker.
Have your home burgled by your favourite nephew, while you are at his other aunt’s funeral.
He didn’t know it was her house and he didn’t know taking her jewellery without her permission was stealing.
This is Galway the bidding city the forbidding city.
Where the woman in court apologised to her man for putting him through this.
The judge asked her, did he apologise to you when he was sticking that screwdriver in your forehead?
No but he wasn’t feeling himself that day your honour.
To hell with local artists what do they bring the city?
nothing but scruffy dogs and ripped jeans, hippies with hobbies the lot of them.
As for the buskers, wanting to fit in with the odour of outrage.
Move them on, hide them in GMIT, or The Picture Palace.
Don’t mention local artists at all.
Let it be like they don’t exist.
Raise the rents is the best way to keep the ripped-jeans gang out, like it’s always been.
Artists me arse.
This is Galway, the bidding city the forbidding city.
City of thieves or is it scribes or is it tribes?
The jury are coming this July, the word is out they’ll rule on the bid, for Capital of Culture twenty twenty give the horse plenty.
We have a great little city here, a pity little city, a shitty little city.
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