Next year will mark ten years since the establishment of a Government department dedicated to the arts. In that period the arts in the Republic have been transformed, gaining substantially from increases in State funding.
A vital part of the process has been the ongoing cultivation by the Arts Council of the contemporary arts. The council has been responsible for a series of blueprints to guide cultural development and these have served their purpose well. The third and latest of these plans has been given Minister Síle deValera's imprimatur.
Taken together, the Arts Plan 2002-2006 and the Minister's Bill to update arts legislation published this week, point the way to a radical overhaul of the Minister's role, the Council's structure and the relationship between the two. The new legislation will underpin the function of the Minister's department in formulating policy. There are, of course, dangers in the transfer of policy-making from Council to Government. It is fraught with the possibility of the emergence of a kind of official State culture, and could have implications, in the future, for creative independence. As a commentary note in the Arts plan states, "it is a continuing strength of the arts in Ireland that State support has been separated from State control". It is important that the Bill maintains this judicious separation with regard to disbursement of funds.
A key component of the 2002-2006 plan is the rejuvenation of the Arts Council itself. This is obviously urgent as current inadequacies in the staffing structures and scales of remuneration have severely handicapped its performance and ability to serve clients. However, as the council evolves towards its goal of becoming more of a development agency - as opposed to being a mere cash dispenser - it must avoid any temptation to overstep the mark in terms of interference or imposing definitions of what constitutes good art. The streamlining of the Council from 17 to nine members will make for a more focused governing body, and should improve efficiency.
Good plans, however, cost money and while there has been concern that funding may not increase sufficiently, the Minister has now made a commitment to continue her record of delivering the necessary finances.