The budget cuts announced yesterday make for interesting times in nearly every sector - including the arts, which is heavily subsidised by the state. Deirdre Falvey breaks down the changes in today’s Irish Times - effectively it is a 10% cut for the Arts Council (Down from €85m to €76m). Culture Ireland, the organisation in place to support and promote Irish Arts abroad, will maintain its funding of €4.7m.
The National Library of Ireland, the National Archives and the Manuscripts Commission will become one organisation; as will the National Gallery of Ireland, the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Crawford Gallery. All of the organisations will keep their own identities but the management, HR, board and other aspects will all be amalgamated.
What is most interesting was the quote from Maurice Foley, deputy chairman of the Arts Council
Significant grant cuts are unavoidable, conditional commitments will have to be reviewed and some organisations will need funds from other sources if they are to survive.
Foley’s comment resonates with my own beliefs about arts funding and it will be interesting to see how different organisations/performance groups/festivals and individual artists innovate and use their work to create new opportunities to support themselves. The Arts Council funding announcements in November and December might the beginning of new ideas and discussions. The Arts Management blog has even more on what is to come.
In non-arts related topics - what is the story with taking away medical cards for people over 70? Sigh.