The Forum for Music in Ireland, which recently delivered a submission to the Minister for Education on music in primary schools, held a meeting on Saturday to discuss the state of play with the proposed national academy for the performing arts, writes Michael Dervan. After a flurry of activity with two government ministers sharing the announcement of a £35 million project, upto-date information about the new academy has become very scarce indeed. Last summer, the Royal Irish Academy of Music withdrew from the proposed integration of its third-level courses into the new institution, and the participation of the World Music Centre at the University of Limerick as one of the new academy's nodes appears also to be in question. The public silence has been unnerving for anyone concerned about music education, and the Forum for Music in Ireland (FMI) decided that the way forward was to commission a report from consultant Deirdre Enright. Her work-in-progress was discussed on Saturday and the FMI now plans to prepare a position paper and make representations to government. FMI's chairman, Joseph Ryan, says the new academy is obviously a welcome development but expresses grave concerns about the information deficit and the lack of proper consultation about a project that is likely to have far-reaching effects in the performing arts for many years to come. Things are, it seems, as they have been for the new academy since the start: all questions and no answers.

The Forum for Music in Ireland can be contacted at forum@cmc.ie.