The Arts Council is once again looking into the provision of opera in Ireland, writes Michael Dervan.

Following moves in relation to film and drama, a specialist is to be hired to produce a policy and action plan for opera, after a detailed analysis of the sector. Unlike some of the Arts Council's earlier calls on outside expertise, the new undertaking is intended to bring in someone with not only a "detailed knowledge of opera", but also a "particular knowledge of the practice of opera in Ireland". The council's estimation of the work involved is 85 days, spread over nine months.

One of the obvious questions is the bearing the move, and others like it, has on the officers already employed by the council to deal with specific areas of activity and art forms. "In making this appointment," says Patricia Quinn, its director, "the council is acknowledging the need for expert, specialist advice in opera beyond what is available to us at present. This is not the first occasion on which we have sought such specialist input. In this we would distinguish between the management of client relationships and the formulation of policy."

Those who witnessed the outcome of the council's previous operatic deliberations, unveiled at a consultative session held in preparation for the current Arts Plan, may well heave a sigh of relief at the development. At that point, the council didn't appear even to have the idea of a national opera company on the agenda, let alone have a policy about it.

But then, this is very much what you might expect of a body that collectively decided to cold-shoulder the Arts Council of Northern Ireland over its proposal to investigate the feasibility of an all-Ireland opera company.

Ten years ago, the council was presented with the most remarkable evidence of the potential demand for opera in Ireland. In 1991, there were 71 nights of MI-scale opera, 43 nights of opera with a reduced orchestra or piano, eight nights of original chamber opera, and a concert performance at the National Concert Hall in Dublin of Balfe's Bohemian Girl. But this extraordinary fact hardly registered in Merrion Square.

Let's hope the wheels of operatic fortune are turning. They'll need to if many of the graduates of the proposed national academy for the performing arts are to face realistic employment prospects at home. In this context, the severed link between the Wexford Festival Opera and the National Symphony Orchestra is one of the greatest opportunities that has surfaced in years.