Campaigning for a real vision for arts in wake of Covid-19

Ireland will have no arts and culture sector left after Covid-19 unless there is a significant vision for how the sector will be supported during this crisis and in its aftermath.

So says independent producer Féilim O hAoláin, a local representative of the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA).

The NCFA represents more than 23,000 artists, arts workers and arts organisations nationally, spanning all cultural disciplines.

Members of the NCFA group in the West are contacting recently elected TDs and Senators to ensure that the arts are put firmly on the agenda for the next government. They are also liaising with local groups such as Theatre57, which represents nearly 100 theatre-makers and workers, to lobby politicians.

Following a Zoom meeting of almost 400 NCFA members from all over Ireland last week, the organisation has written to politicians with a seven-point plan, outlining how the sector can be supported.

This follows anger over a recent ‘rescue package’ announced by Minister for Heritage, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, which displayed a total “lack of vision”, according to the NCFA.

Half of the €1 million package Minister Madigan announced had been taken from the Arts Council’s existing budgets, with the remainder coming from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

The small amount angered those working in the sector. That anger was compounded by the fact that half of it wasn’t new money and by the way funds would be distributed. People who had creative projects ready to go, had to apply for money and successful applicants would be awarded €3,000 each.  There were 334 awards for artists – but nothing for people working in technical or production areas.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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