New Heritage Centre set for Coventry?
COVENTRY Irish Society (CIS) has launched a proposed business venture
to discuss the possibility of establishing a new Irish Heritage Centre
in the city.
The society will be hosting a dinner and presentation evening on Friday,
November 17 at the Hotel Leofric in Coventry from 7pm to trail the project.
Kerry Cullen from CIS told The Irish Post: “The reason we are hosting
a business dinner is to raise awareness of the need for Coventry to have
its own Irish Heritage Centre and to ascertain local support for this
project.
“Since the closure or sale of many of the city’s original
Irish clubs and centres there is sadly no key focal point for the celebration
of Irish heritage and promotion of Irish culture.
“Other cities such as Manchester have successfully developed an
Irish Heritage Centre which offers a focus for the Irish community and
its subsequent generations.
“Our aim is to create a similar centre for Coventry.”
At present the only Irish-related club in Coventry is the Four Provinces
which unfortunately currently cannot deal with large numbers for events
such as dinner dances or presentations.
But in the past Coventry has boasted some of the best Irish clubs in the
Midlands — including St. Finbarrs in Stoney Stanton Road and The
Kerryman in The Butts area of the city.
Both have now closed and there is a pressing need to fill the void and
provide a centre which can cater for the city’s Irish community
— both first and subsequent generations.
Even Coventry’s annual Irish Festival first established 17 years
ago which used to run for a week in August no longer exists — but
there is talk of reinstating a weekend of Irish-related events next year.
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