Personally I would support a separate council for traditional Irish arts. I believe that one of the phenomenal developments in the arts world here has been the huge increase in the traditional arts. But I don't think a separate council should be all about money. I think its role should be far more focussed on the developmental, and by that I mean its development in education, careers and the international sphere.

I agree that it is difficult to find a definition of what is "traditional" but I think that is something that should be discussed and that actually over the years those in the traditional arts know what is "traditional".

I would not be particularly exercised about the apparent "demotion" of the Arts Council but I think it is something which should be discussed and it would be a mistake for vested interests to try and stulitfy that debate. This document throws the discussion on the role of the Arts Council back to the people, and that is important.

On whether there should be a separate budget for Irish arts (art in the Irish language) I'd support it for this reason. It's not going to be a question of taking money from non-Irish speaking arts but of ensuring Irish language arts are treated equally. The Irish language arts need a budget which would focus on their development. I don't think there is a `level playing-field' for Irish language arts at the moment.