AN almighty hoo ha has been caused by Patrick Mason's statement to The Irish Times after a press conference two weeks ago about a new funding agreement for the Abbey.
He said that a new, tripartite agreement had been endorsed by the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, and that he understood that it would soon be endorsed by the Arts Council. Under this agreement, he understood, the National Theatre Society would still be funded by the Arts Council but would have a special status as a national institution. However, both the Arts Council and the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht have denied that the deal has been done.
Discussions between these three bodies on this issue are nothing new. The Minister, Michael D. Higgins, first came up with a proposal that his Department should have final say on the Abbey's funding (with the Arts Council having an advisory role only) in November 1993. James Hickey, as Abbey chairman, and Patrick Mason, as incoming artistic director at the time, evidently welcomed the move as shoring up their declining share of the Arts Council's budget.
The council was considerably less enthusiastic, perhaps because no one ever clearly explained where the additional funds would come from, should the Minister decide to give the Abbey more than the council advised. There was a fear that the council would then have to cough up funds already ear marked for other worthy organisations. There was also a feeling that such a Patrick Mason: hoo ha move would ring fence the Abbey "establishment", at the very moment when the whole nature of a national theatre was thrown into question by dynamic developments elsewhere. In any event, the Department of Finance appears to have frustrated Michael D's efforts to restructure along these precise lines.
The Abbey's general manager, Martin Fahy, confirms that while a draft tripartite agreement has been approved by the National Theatre Society, there has in fact been no official communication of approval from the Department or the Arts Council. A misunderstanding as to the Arts Council's position may have arisen, says Fahy, due to the statement in the Arts Council's recent drama policy document: "The council will determine the level of funding to be offered to the National Theatre Society on the basis of the new framework agreed between the council, the National Theatre Society and the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht."
The Department appears to go some way towards backing Mason's understanding of events, but insists that the discussions are still on going: "The process of tripartite discussion between the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, the National Theatre Society Ltd, and An Chomhairle Ealafon/The Arts Council is well advanced and it is understood that An Chomhairle Ealaion/The Arts Council has acted in the spirit of the discussions to date in determining the level of grant aid to the National Theatre Society Ltd for 1997."
Patricia Quinn, director of the Arts Council, indicated to this column that she had no difficulty with this wording, which still leaves the outcome open. The only conclusion which can be drawn from this convoluted saga at this stage is that this issue has caused more obvious contention between the Department and the Arts Council than any other to date.
