Bulging bosoms, rouged-faces and gartered thighs were on display on North Great Georges Street in Dublin yesterday as a bevy of Molly Blooms welcomed guests to the reopening of The James Joyce Cultural Centre.
"We got the loot," roared Senator David Norris as he posed for photographs with Minister for Arts John O'Donoghue. The Joycean scholar, who was wearing a traditional straw boater, raised his silver-tipped cane in triumph as he welcomed Government funding of some €250,000.
The centre, which had to close last September, reopened yesterday with a new board. Its new director is Laura Barnes, who was programme co-ordinator of April's Beckett Centenary Festival and head of the 2004 ReJoyce Festival.
"The goal is that the centre makes a serious contribution not just to Joyce scholarship, but to Dublin's cultural tourism," she said. A cafe will open at the centre next week.
Bloomsday on Friday will be celebrated at the centre with a traditional breakfast and readings and performances.
Other events include walking tours of Joyce's Dublin, a number of lunchtime talks and a series of readings from the once banned novel.
