The 75k Bantry Community Fund award has enabled West Cork Music to formally instruct award-winning McCullough Mulvin Architects to complete the design work required to finalise a planning application for the facilities.

 
The plans will include a world-class, accessible 250-seater auditorium hosting year-round performances, and an education centre equipped to foster the talent of musicians, writers, and performers of all ages and abilities.
 
The designs are tailored for the site currently occupied by Biggs’ Catering, below Bantry Library. Biggs, which was acquired last year by M&P O’Sullivan, will continue to trade elsewhere, if planning permission is granted. The facilities will contribute to the emergence of a cultural quarter in the upper part of Bantry, next to the town’s iconic library, and will host events, lessons and workshops year-round, though festivals will continue to animate venues across Bantry and West Cork..
 
Subject to contractor timelines, West Cork Music plans to submit its planning application this Spring, with a decision anticipated in time for the summer festival period.
 

Local and international support for ambitious plans

While securing planning permission for the arts venue and education hub will be the next major milestone for the project, reaching the interim funding target is, in itself, a significant achievement. ‘It’s a testament to the ambition and strength of this grassroots non-profit arts organisation’, says Donagh Collins, Chair of the West Cork Music board. ‘It reflects strong confidence in West Cork Music’s plans and their potential impact on the arts and economy in Bantry and the West Cork region year-round’.
 
West Cork Music’s CEO Francis Humphrys says ‘The contribution from the Bantry Community Fund is a particularly meaningful local vote of confidence and the decisive step that is enabling our project to move forward to the planning stage’.
 
The €430,000 raised in this fundraising round builds on earlier support, including a €500,000 contribution from an international donor that supported the venue and education hub plans through their initial development phases. Additional funding has been gratefully received from a broad base of local, European and US-based donors.
 
To find out more about the project, visit https://bantrymusiccentre.ie