Limerick ranks fifth among Europe's small cities in new culture report

A NEW European Commission report has ranked Limerick fifth among 22 small cities across the continent when it comes to culture. 

The second edition of the Cultural and Creative Cities Monitor report, first published in 2017, was introduced to monitor and assess the performance of cities through 29 different indicators, including museums, cinema attendance, jobs in media and communication, integration of foreigners, accessibility to flights, and many more. 

All 29 indicators form part of three umbrella categories; cultural diversity, creative economy, and enabling environment. Scores in each category are then calculated to form a total score. 

Each city is placed in three different categories, depending on its size, its GDP per capita, and employment rate.

For example, Limerick is placed in the small city category (populations between 50,000 and 100,000) alongside Waterford and Galway, and is joined by the same cities in the €27,000 to €35,000 GDP category. 

Cork is considered medium city, while Dublin was put in the extra-large city category, both of which also performing well in the report. 

Limerick averaged a total score of 26.7 out of 100, and was ranked the fifth best small city out of 22 cities, behind Leuven (Belgium), Galway, Tartu (Estonia) and the German city of Weimar, which scored 37.7. 

While many cities scored a perfect 100 in the 29 different categories, none of the 190 cities scored an overall perfect 100. In fact, the report says that after aggregating the highest ranking scores in different categories, even the “ideal” city would only score 77.2. That is 11 points higher than the overall best, which was Paris.

As a small city, Limerick was ranked seventh in cultural vibrancy. The top three of this group were Weimar, Tartu and Galway. 

Limerick falls mid-way in the small city ratings in the creative economy section, ranked at 14th, behind Waterford at 13th and ahead of Galway at 16th. Leuven, Faro (Portugal) and Tartu were the best performers here. 

However, Limerick was in second place in the enabling environment category, which identifies the assets “that help cities attract creative talent and stimulate cultural engagement”. 

Galway took the top spot in this category, while Leuven came third, followed by Waterford in fourth position. 

The cultural vibrancy category comprises nine indicators; sights and landmarks, museums and art galleries, cinemas, concert and music halls, theatres, tourist and overnight stays, museum visitors, cinema attendance, and satisfaction with cultural facilities. 

Limerick scored highly in sights and landmarks, and in museums and art galleries, scoring 59.4 and 74.8 respectively. 

Limerick has a number of popular museum and art gallery destinations, including King John’s Castle, Limerick City Art Gallery, Limerick City Museum, the Hunt Museum, Ormston House and many more. 

In museums and art galleries, Limerick scored considerably higher than Galway (57.2) and Waterford (31.7). 

However, Limerick received a low mark in satisfaction with cultural facilities, scoring 17.1, joint with Waterford and behind Galway’s 25.7. 

The creative economy category comprises jobs in arts, culture and entertainment; jobs in media and communication; jobs in other creative sectors; ICT patents; community design applications; jobs in new arts, culture and entertainment enterprises, jobs in new media and communications enterprises; and jobs in new enterprises in other sectors. 

Limerick scored higher than Galway and Waterford in jobs for arts, culture and entertainment, but received a lower score than its small city counterparts in jobs in media and communications. 

Limerick received both high and very low scorecards in the enabling environment section, which comprises graduates in arts and humanities; graduates in ICT, average appearances in university rankings, foreign graduates, foreign-born population, tolerance of foreigners, integration of foreigners, people trust, accessibility to passenger flights, accessibility to road, accessibility to rail, and quality of governance. 

Limerick scored a perfect 100 in ICT graduates, also achieved by Galway, Dublin and Cork. 

All Irish cities shared the same score of 83.3 in tolerance of foreigners, 50 for integration of foreigners, and 60 in people trust. 

There was considerably low ranking for Limerick, Galway, Waterford and Cork for transport accessibility. In accessibility to flights, Limerick scored 3.5, Galway scored 3, Waterford scored 0.1 while Cork scored 2.8. Dublin scored 20 points in this category. 

Similarly, there was also low scores received by Limerick, Galway and Cork in comparison to Dublin, when it came to accessibility by rail. 

Galway scored 0.2, Limerick scored 0.8, and Cork scored 1.9, while Dublin scored 30.2. 

For a full data analysis, you can view the study here.

For an explanation of this year's report, click here.