E-mail to a friend

Irish arts world launches preemptive strike against arts cuts

Published Monday 26 October 2009 at 15:53 by Anthony Garvey

The Irish arts community has stepped up its campaign against feared funding cuts, taking its fight to the national parliament in Dublin in the run-up to the December budget.

Emmy Award-winner Brendan Gleeson and fellow film and TV star Gabriel Byrne were among those who turned up to lobby politicians on the issue. Also present were Abbey Theatre director Fiach MacConghail, Druid Theatre founder Garry Hynes, Pat Moylan, chair of the Arts Council, playwright Sebastian Barry, and many others from across the sector.

In passionate contributions to a parliamentary committee on the arts, representative of all the major parties, they argued against the swingeing cuts proposed by economist Colm McCarthy, warning that, if implemented, they risked turning Ireland into a cultural wasteland. He has proposed that overall cultural funding be reduced by €37m, with a €6.1m cut in the Arts Council’s annual budget.

The final decision rests with Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, now working on a budget that is predicted to be one of the harshest for decades. In her address to the committee, Moylan pointed out that the Arts Council’s current state funding of €73m supports 3,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, and that €65m of the grants go back to the exchequer in taxes.

Gleeson recalled that he had started his career with the Passion Machine, a theatre company whose development was backed by Arts Council money. Similar support at the Project Arts Centre and elsewhere had nurtured the careers of Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Liam Cunningham, Ger Ryan and many others. “Millions of pounds, dollars and euros have been spent in Ireland as a result of the development of such talent,” he said.

MacConghail acknowledged that public expenditure cuts were necessary, but called for “vision and originality” in tackling the issue. Hynes said that at a time when communities were being torn by unemployment and financial difficulties, the arts were needed more than ever.” Playwright Barry warned that if the cuts were implemented, “we should change the country’s name to McCarthyland, as it will no longer be the Ireland I know”.

E-mail to a friend