City Hall to Host its First Event as part of EU Presidency Cultural Programme
14/07/2026
In the first event of Cork City Council’s cultural programme for the EU Presidency, Cork City Arts Office presents artist, Stephen Doyle, in conversation with Michael Waldron on his work ‘In between a place to be and where we are’ on Thursday July 16th at 6pm in Cork City Hall.
Using the artwork as a starting point, the conversation will explore the evolving meaning of safe spaces, how these spaces have developed over time, and what the future might hold.
Reflecting on the creation of the artwork in the open air during a 2023 residency with Cork Pride, Stephen Doyle says: “By developing this body of work in a public space such as this, it mirrors the level of vulnerability we feel existing as ourselves walking the streets.
“Yet we will continue to strive, we will continue to push forward unapologetically and establish our identities and broaden our safe spaces until they encompass the streets we once feared to walk.”
Now part of the Cork City Council Collection, In between a place to be and where we are enters a new chapter, continuing to inspire conversations about visibility, belonging and the importance of creating spaces where everyone can feel seen, valued and safe.
This is the first in a programme of events as part of Cork City’s EU Presidency Cultural Programme which will run from July through to December.
The programme includes events in the Cork City Libraries throughout the period and special events delivered by Cork Folk Festival, Cork International Film Festival, and the Dragon of Shandon Festival, an outdoor drawing workshop about food and architecture at Urban Mirror sculpture on Coal Quay, and it will finish in December with a collaboration between Cork City Council Arts Office, and the French Embassy in Ireland, with a symposium focused on ‘cultural third places’.
The programme is funded as part of the Culture Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2026.
Related events in both Cork City and County can be found at: https://www.corkcity.ie/en/doing-business-in-cork/eu-and-international/international-relations/cork-france-eu-presidency-programme/
Tickets for the Stephen Doyle in conversation with Michael Waldron, which is free, can be booked at: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/in-conversation-stephen-doyle-and-michael-waldron-tickets-1992758438132?aff=oddtdtcreator