Funding for Fermoy International Poetry Festival

The committee of the Fermoy International Poetry Festival would like your support with our petition to have the town's council grant for the festival reinstated.

Fermoy poetry news.

At last year's festival there were poets from all over Ireland, the USA, Belgium, Holland, India, Scotland and England. There were poetry readings at a barber's shop, a hairdressing salon, a boutique, 2 banks, a supermarket, a pharmacy, a youth centre, in 8 pubs, a hotel and in 4 restaurants. In 2012, 2013 and again in 2014 the festival will bring in more visitors to the town than any other festival by a long shot.

The 53 poets who joined the Festival Poetry Bus read at the 3,000 year old wedge tomb and the castle in Glanworth and at the Blackwater castle tower in Castletownroche. There were four poetry books launched; Doghouse launched Ten Years in the Doghouse, Unfinished Business by Gene Barry. Rebel Poetry launched the festival anthology, The Blue Max Review which contained poems submited for the festival competition and the student anthology Inclusion which contained poems from 22 US students.

This year the Fermoy International Poetry Festival will be bigger and better. We will increase the venues from 18 to 30, include 11 more high schools, include for the first time 14 primary schools and for the first time have poets from South Africa, Belgium and Australia read at the festival.

The story of the missing letters.

A letter addressed to the chairman of, and clearly marked the Fermoy International Poetry Festival, containing the cheques for last year's winning students at the festival was inadvertently posted to Billy Murphy's pub in Fermoy, the Elbow Lane Inn. In contravention of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983 sections Section 84 (a), (b) and (c) this letter was opened by Murphy and the information shared with the mayor of the town Olive Corcoran. Murphy has informed the sender of the letter that he posted it back to him; four months later and this letter has still not arrived.

A letter dated January 10th and containing the application for funding for this year's Fermoy International Poetry Festival was posted to mayor Olive Corcoran. To date this letter has failed to arrive at the mayor's office. Both incidents have been reported to the police and the post office.

New festival and poetry group.

An opposition festival has been set up in Fermoy and the local press made the following comments;
'‘Fermoy is to have a brand new arts festival. The idea is the brainchild of Mayor Olive Corcoran who has gathered a committee round her and is busy laying plans to bring it to fruition. Night time activities will include poetry readings from local poets and sessions from local musicians in the Elbow Lane Bar, home of the ''Market Place Poets''.

"The arts festival planned for Fermoy for the start of February looks set to be even bigger than originally envisaged. That's the view of Mayor Olive Corcoran whose idea the festival is.'’

Were any of the poets involved in the international festival or the other local poets belonging to the oldest poetry group in the town invited to read; no.

Allocation of funding for festivals.

At a Fermoy council meeting on Monday January 24th Mayor Corcoran and another councilor who is on her festival's committee voted to give her festival 50% more than the international festival received last year and the same as the international festival had received to the poetry group she help found. The votes were carried 5 to 4 in favour. Corcoran additionally gave funds to four other organisations WHO HAD NOT APPLIED FOR FUNDING.The Fermoy International Poetry Festival did not receive a cent.

By the way having received permission to erect the festival banner on buildings in the town square from both the council and the building owners, the festival committee were issued with a litter fine when they could not take down the festival banner within the 48 hour period they were instructed to by the council. A committee member explained to the town clerk that a generous contractor working in the town had offered to take it down free of charge but could not do so for two weeks.

Question: Can one sit on a committee and vote to allocate funds to oneself?
Answer: No.

Would this be considered a conflict of interest?
Answer: Yes.

If you wish to email a letter of support you can do so by emailing townclerk@fermoytowncouncil.ie and directly to the Avondhu newspaper via reporter@avondhupress.ie, the Irish Independent at inews@independent.ie and please make sure to copy fermoypoetryfestival@gmail.com

Festival Committee    Contact the author of the petition