With a new Minister for Arts and a Minister of State, what are the challenges for the arts portfolio at this time of economic uncertainty? Stakeholders in the arts discuss what should be at the top of the agenda
THE NEW MINISTER for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen, takes on the portfolio at what many see as a crucial time for the arts in Ireland. He, along with newly-appointed Minister of State with special responsibility for arts, Martin Mansergh, faces a range of challenges, among them the underfunding of the Arts Council, which has an accepted target of €100 million, the stalemate over integrating arts into education, and the need for adequate funding for work to tour the country.
We asked some of the leading names in the Irish arts community to identify what they see as the biggest challenges in the arts facing Minister Cullen.
TANIA BANOTTI
chief executive of the Theatre Forum
"The key issues include adequate funding for the Arts Council of €100 million in this year's budget, as outlined in the Government's strategic plan Partnership for the Arts 2006-2010. We're also looking for three-year multi-annual funding for key arts organisations, as expecting arts organisations to plan and book acts within the year-to-year system is ridiculous.
"There is also an urgent need to increase touring of professional theatre, dance and opera to the network of arts centres around the country. The Department of Arts gives the capital grants to build arts centres around the country and the people who run these centres are crying out for more touring work.
"We also need to resolve the problem of the 21 per cent VAT imposed on foreign performing artists who appear in theatres and arts festivals around the country. Even if you're a theatre based in Letterkenny and you want to bring a group over from Derry, you have to pay this VAT. That's crippling and means we don't have enough international work in the country.
"Finally, there is a need to include the arts within the education system, in particular the lack of collaboration with and support from the Department of Education and Science; with a new Arts Minister and a new Education Minister, it's an opportunity to finally get the Department of Education on board."
MICHAEL COLGAN
director of the Gate Theatre
"From what I know of Martin Cullen, he is enthusiastic and high-energy, and I think it's really good to have that for the arts. Of the big issues facing the arts in general, number one is the new Arts Council. I think the rotation that's going to happen in June is terribly important. There is a need for a lot of change, and I think change in that respect can be good, so one of the early tasks would be to appoint a good Arts Council.
"One of the things that would be important to me is the question of touring and the arts outside of Dublin. Regional touring is vital, which is why we're taking Waiting for Godot to 40 venues around the country. The third issue that I hope is given attention is the question of training, because there is a real need, with Trinity losing its degree course in acting. One of the biggest problems is that we're not training our actors, because there's no structured major national institution for training in Ireland.
"A lot of talented people are going on to study in England, and they go on to Rada and then they don't come back, so there is a huge talent drain. We had a forum on this subject in Trinity and produced a report which is due to be published. It would be terrific to have a national institute for dramatic art in Ireland."
LOUGHLIN DEEGAN
director of the Dublin Theatre Festival
"There's a really urgent need to strengthen the Arts Council's position in terms of achieving the €100 million objective of funding for the arts which is now long overdue. The level of investment that is required to generate a genuinely dynamic arts scene in the country is very, very small. I think that most people working in the arts would hope that the Minister would see that as a priority.
"The other thing very much on the agenda is the whole issue of multi-annual funding for key arts organisations. I know that there are ongoing discussions between the Arts Council and the Department to offer key organisations a multi-annual commitment in terms of funding, which is vital to allow organisations to forward plan and grow and develop, and I would hope that he would see those as urgent priorities.
"Everybody will be looking to see if the Minister will appoint an arts adviser, which I think everyone in the arts community would see as important. I'd be hopeful that he would see a need for an arts adviser to strengthen that aspect of his portfolio."
LOUISE DONLON
director of Dunamaise Arts Centre,
Co Laois
"Touring funding must be a key issue for the new Minister. Audiences throughout the world can experience the finest Irish work through funding provided for Culture Ireland, yet the taxpayers in Laois, Offaly and many other counties cannot.
"No doubt Minister Cullen will be at numerous productions and exhibitions that will deeply impress him. I would remind him that these are, in large part, paid for by the taxpayer and I would encourage him to ask himself, would the people of Waterford be entitled to see them in their own place?
"Tackling the perception that this Ministry is a 'soft' one - described last week in The Irish Times as the 'one nearest the exit' - is key to battling the bias against three sectors of our society that make a huge contribution to our economy and to our quality of life.
"If it is perceived as the one nearest the exit, it might also be pushed to the head of the queue for any cutbacks.
"This might well be Minister Cullen's biggest challenge."
NIALL DOYLE
chief executive of
Opera Ireland
"As a Waterford man, I have to declare some bias here, but I think the appointment of such an experienced politician and Minister is a very good thing for the arts. Allied with a Minister for Finance who is a highly cultured individual, and a new Taoiseach who has prioritised the maintenance and growth of key investment, I would hope that that this Government will make strategic investment in the arts one of its priorities.
"In terms of specifics for the near future, there are two main things which stand out like a pikestaff: a national opera company in a national opera house, and increased, targeted investment in the Arts Council to enable it to put opera on a proper professional footing in this country.
"Ireland is the only Western country, and Dublin the only European capital city, which doesn't have a full yearly programme of professional opera, a full-scale national opera company to provide it, or a proper opera house in which to present it to best international standards. This fact should be a source of national shame.
"The Minister also needs to resource the Arts Council to target the current year costs of the additional opera the capital city and the country needs. It did very badly in the last round of government arts spending, and needs to catch up immediately to meet its own relatively modest annual funding targets. If Minister Cullen were to fix this, he would have righted one of the great national cultural wrongs, and ensured an enduring legacy for himself and for this Government. "
EUGENE DOWNES
chief executive of
Culture Ireland
"I was struck by the fact that in his first speech last month as Taoiseach-designate, Brian Cowen invoked a patriotic vision based on pride in Ireland's history, traditions and culture, and a determination to add to its prestige and achievements.
"There's a unique opportunity to work with Minister Cullen to position Irish arts and culture at the heart of this vision of a modern republic, based on values that go beyond material success. It also offers an opening to make the case that, euro for euro, presenting Irish artistic excellence internationally offers the best possible investment in Ireland's global reputation. And in a tough budgetary climate, positioning the arts as a priority within the Government's overall vision becomes even more important. If I had to pick one other key strategic opportunity, it would be arts and education: if Minister Cullen can finally crack this, together with the new Minister for Education, it would represent a huge, long-term achievement in fostering both the great artists of the future and the audiences of the future."
MIKE FITZPATRICK
director and curator of Limerick City Gallery of Arts
"There is a sense that one would like the incoming Minister to really embrace the brief: this is essential, as whoever is representing the cultural sector has to bring that to the Cabinet table, so that it filters right down through Government and down to local authorities. We need closer linkage between the environment and the arts in terms of the whole idea of art collections, and the intersection between museums and art galleries.
"We must produce high-end, challenging art because that's the only kind that will affect and excite the imagination, and support for that is critical. In terms of the overall notion of the country as a knowledge-based society, we need to use our culture as a way of stimulating thought, experimentation and engaging people. Here in Limerick city, there's an opportunity where art and culture can play a part in the regeneration and the renewal of the city centre. Culture is a tool that we can empower people with and you only do it by creating artistic freedom.
"Culture Ireland has been a good initiative over the past couple of years; we need to figure out how to promote our work internationally and that, in turn, may create a market here for it."
ANDREW LOWE
producer with Element Pictures
"Séamus Brennan and John O'Donoghue have been very successful ministers for arts from a film perspective, so there is a tradition there of arts ministers stepping up and supporting the industry, and that's something the new Minister is going to have to continue. From an international point of view, Ireland has become a very expensive country to shoot in because of the weak sterling and dollar, the currency used for all film financing. We're always having to stay on our toes in terms of what we offer foreign producers, so section 41 is one way of doing that.
"The number-one challenge is for the Minister to continue to support the Film Board and to continue to ensure that Ireland remains competitive for film production internationally.
"The department is very can-do when it comes to bringing big films in to the country. We've found the Department very helpful on this in the past, so that's a tradition we would hope to see continued under Martin Cullen. Indigenous film enjoyed a lot of success over the last couple of years with films like Once and Garage doing very well internationally."
FERGUS SHEIL
freelance conductor and former music advisor to the Arts Council
"The one thing that everybody I'm talking to in music would like to see is something done about music in education and schools, and the fact that people can go through schools without ever playing a musical instrument or singing in a choir. If Martin Cullen wants to make a difference, he needs to talk to Batt O'Keeffe. There's a relatively small amount of time given to [musical education] in primary schools and relatively few people study it in secondary schools; it's poorly resourced and people are not given access to instruments. It's not State policy that every child should play an instrument or sing in a choir, and it should be.
"One of the big things in terms of music in his brief is going to be the redevelopment of the National Concert Hall. That's a major piece of infrastructural development that's going to require funding, and the Minister is going to have to fight hard to see that through. One other thing which is currently to the fore is the development of choral music in Ireland - that's an example of something that a small amount of funding would tackle."
TOM SHERLOCK
Tom Sherlock Management, manager of traditional music artists and dancers
"Many in the traditional arts community look forward to seeing Minister Cullen deliver on improving the status and funding afforded traditional music, song and dance.
"As the majority of funding is channelled through the Arts Council, we look forward to the council being adequately resourced to deliver on its welcome commitment to the traditional arts.
"A recognition that issues of identity are likely to become even more important in the coming years and sensitivity to the fact that one of Ireland's international strengths is the standing our art, particularly our indigenous music, enjoys internationally. The work of Culture Ireland has been critical in this regard and one hopes it will continue to be supported. Given the wide range of his brief, it is to be hoped the Minister will consider engaging an arts specialist to advise and assist him."
DONAL SHIELDS
director of St Patrick's Festival
"The big question is the funding for the Arts Council, and trying to get it as near as possible to the [€100 million] target. Given the slowdown in the economy, trying to get to the target of €100 million that the Arts Council set a few years ago is going to be a difficult thing to try and manage.
"There was a law passed at European level whereby incoming artists to Ireland and any other European country have VAT charged on their fees, which is absorbed by the local producer. It's something that could be challenged.
"There are other things beyond funding that need to be looked at, and the arts in education scenario is one. There is a feeling that the arts are doing a lot, but that not very much is coming from education, so there are a lot of gains to be made there."
