City of Culture the day after the night before.....

The mood was buoyant on Friday in Derry. It was the day after the announcement that Derry had won City of Culture 2013 and the bid team, led by Aideen McGinley of ILEX (in the blue jacket) and Valerie Watts the Town Clerk of Derry City Council (in white), were running on adrenalin.

I think the two, dubbed the V&A, are actually keeping each other standing, they are so exhausted. Phil Redmond said he had known who had won for about a month and was relieved to finally be able to talk about it. Here he's cracking a joke about another name to add to the list of names the city has.....Merryderry!

But among the euphoria he did issue a reality check: "You've got it, make it work".

He said that he and the panel of judges would be visiting the city in 9 months time to meet the team. "Can you deliver this?" he asked. There will be tensions, he went on, saying he had the scars to prove it, the reference to the fallings out and fallings in of the European capital of Culture in Liverpool.

This week, I'm told, sees the appointment of a cultural animateur. While I thought this was for the whole City of Culture, this new post could be solely responsible for the cultural strategy of the ILEX owned Ebrington Site.

Then comes the setting up of a cultural company, with an as yet unspecified number of board members, within which will there will be a new position of a cultural programmer for 2013.

I can feel the fizz going out of the champagne already as a cast of thousands jockeys for position. The next two-and-a-half years years will be interesting.

(Photos courtesy of Lorcan Doherty)