Galway Arts Hustings – invite to all election candidates

The National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) will have a pre-election hustings in Galway City next Tuesday, February 4. It will take place at Nuns Island Theatre, starting at 12.30pm and will give members of the local arts community a chance to hear from General Election candidates about their arts policies, and also to express their own thoughts on what’s being proposed and what’s required for arts-workers.

The NCFA is volunteer-led, grassroots movement that makes the case for supporting arts in Ireland. It points out that the arts are a necessity, not a luxury and an asset, rather than an overhead.

And they have the figures to back this up.

Twenty-three thousand people work in the arts and culture sector in Ireland, according to the 2016 Census. Of those, 72 per cent don’t have a pension and 48 per cent have no health insurance. The vast majority of them earn less than the National Minimum Wage, according to a recent NCFA survey.

The NCFA points out that government investment in the Arts and Culture in Ireland is lower than in any other country in Europe, representing just 0.11% of Gross Domestic Produce, compared to a European average of 0.6% (that’s according to Council of Europe figures).

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

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