The Stage

Irish arts world launches unified bid to fight €37m of cuts

Published Monday 28 September 2009 at 12:05 by Anthony Garvey

A national campaign has been launched by the Irish arts community aimed at protecting the sector from across-the-board cuts of €37 million recommended by a government-appointed committee.

Members of parliament are to be lobbied for support, with a list of people involved in the arts compiled for each constituency to increase the lobbying pressure.

“Everyone involved is becoming very politicised,” said Tania Banotti, Irish Theatre Forum chief executive and one of those behind the new initiative.

A special website is being established to attract backing for the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) and, according to Banotti, “we will be making our case at art events across the country”. The campaign is calling for the retention of Culture Ireland, which promotes Irish arts abroad, and of the Film Board, both of which have been targeted for closure in the cost-saving report by economist Colm McCarthy.

The campaign also wants government to reject the McCarthy recommendation of a €6.1 million cut in the Arts Council’s annual state grant and to retain a cabinet minister for the arts, a position he suggested could be scrapped to save money. Last week, the present holder of the arts portfolio, Martin Cullen, said he “fundamentally disagreed” with the cuts proposed for the sector.

The Dublin launch of the national campaign was attended by representatives of the various branches of the arts, ranging from Abbey Theatre director Fiach MacConghail and Riverdance composer Bill Whelan to Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle and Mercury Prize nominee Lisa Hannigan.

Speaking at the launch, award-winning novelist Colm Toibin said the campaign group wanted to stress the important role artists play in the branding of Ireland abroad “We represent something in our society that is not broken and is crucial, not only to our society, but also to our economy.”

Fiach MacConghail, who also spoke, acknowledged that the state of the economy required cuts. Artists wanted to be positive about turning things around and contributing to national recovery, he said, but the McCarthy report lacked vision. He urged people to get involved in the national campaign, which “encompasses 20,000 of our members with a unity of purpose”.