Repeated cuts to funding make it seem like the ‘luck of the Irish’ has finally come to an end. Arts Council Northern Ireland has been hit with a triple whammy. Not only does it receive significantly less per capita than other Arts Councils, it’s had its budget frozen for three years, and, as if that weren’t enough, it will be suffer further cuts to help pay for the 2012 Olympics.
Roisín McDonough, Chief Executive of the Arts Council, is doing her best to remain positive ahead of the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 (CSR). The Arts Council’s focus has been to generate public, political, and industry support in Northern Ireland for its bid to secure increased funding. The stakes are high. McDonough recently said, “The success of our bid will mean a ‘make-or-break’ difference to our artists and arts organisations.”
According to an Arts Council Northern Ireland spokesman, “The Arts Council is dependant on the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review 2007 to deliver the resources needed to sustain and develop the arts in Northern Ireland.
“Our Treasury and National Lottery funding streams are stretched to their limits and there are simply no other sources though which we can obtain the funds needed to allow the arts in Northern Ireland to develop in line with the other countries in the British Isles,” he said.
The Arts Council and arts in Northern Ireland faces its bleakest year in a decade. “In March the government decided that arts funding in Northern Ireland will drop by a further £4.55 million over the next 3 years as Lottery proceeds are to be diverted to the 2012 Olympic Games. This reduction comes at a time when the arts can least afford it,” said the spokesman.
Ironically the cuts were announced barely three months after the Arts Council launched its five year strategy plan, ‘Creative Connections’.
“Delivering on this plan requires the Government to invest in arts in Northern Ireland in a way which provides parity of treatment with other parts of the UK and Ireland,” said the spokesman, “To compensate for the recent cut in lottery funds, the Arts Council is now calling on Government to raise the capita spend on the arts for the 2008 to 2011 funding horizon, the result of this additional decline in income can only be described as ‘extremely worrying.’
“In terms of per capita spend Northern Ireland currently receives £6.13 per head of population compared with Scotland which received £11.93 and the Republic of Ireland the equivalent of £12.61,” he said.
The Arts Council “has produced a strong, evidence-based portfolio in support of the social and economic benefits of investment in the arts, with particular focus on key government agendas.” Despite having received backing from Northern Ireland’s Arts Minister, Edwin Poots, the Arts Council is taking a pragmatic view in the event its bid is unsuccessful.
“We will concentrate our resources on stabilising the core arts organizations,” said the spokesman, “We will not be able to realise significant areas identified in our five year strategy as in need of development, and we will have difficulty finding sufficient resources to bring on board new clients and many new projects.
“This will have a serious impact on the positive contribution of the arts to the social and economic development of the region, including key growth areas such as community regeneration and cultural tourism. All sectors of the arts that we currently support will be affected, across all art forms,” he said.
Belfast-born sculptor Claire Morgan, who is currently based in North East England, says the effects of the proposed funding cuts can be felt “on many levels already.”
“Everyone seems to be panicking, from emerging artists to experienced public art consultants and fundraisers who I wrongly thought might have been in a relatively secure position,” she says.
With all its eggs forced into the one basket Arts Council Northern Ireland says it has been heartened by the positive responses received from Members of the Legislative Assembly, all the major political parties, the Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure and the new Arts Minister.
“This has given us confidence that our arguments have been well placed and listened to and that there is a genuine political will to change the funding landscape for the arts in Northern Ireland,” said the spokesman.
“We secured the commitment of the main local political parties in their manifestos to support the arts, and we continue an ongoing programme of one-to-one meetings with party leaders and culture and arts representatives of the parties of the Northern Ireland Assembly. We have met with the locally elected councilors and we have presented our CSR 2007 bid document to the statutory committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure. The Arts Council has also been vocal on the funding situation for the arts, and we have been encouraged at the level of positive media coverage our case is receiving,” he said.
Visit Arts Council Northern Ireland’s website for a full list of lobbying activities to date, plus information regarding its campaign for increased investment in the arts in Northern Ireland.
