Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 23 Oct 1997

Vol. 482 No. 2

Written Answers - Museum of Modern Art.

Charles Flanagan

Question:

14 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands if she will make a statement on the work of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham; the funding, if any, given towards its work since it opened; and the proposals, if any, she has for its future expansion. [17327/97]

Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Miss de Valera)

The Irish Museum of Modern Art which is located in the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, opened to the public in 1991. Its remit is to provide the Irish public with access to the best Irish and international visual art through exhibition, collection and education programmes. The aim is to foster within society an awareness, understanding and participation in the visual arts through structures and programmes which are both innovative and inclusive.

The Irish Museum of Modern Art presents up to 20 temporary exhibitions a year with selections of work from the permanent collection also regularly on show. Exhibitions from the museum regularly go on tour to other galleries and art centres throughout the country; 100,000 people attended the museum in its first year of operation in 1991 while the number of visitors in 1996 has grown to over 330,000.

Substantial Government funding (both current and capital) has been provided to the Irish Museum of Modern Art since its opening. Such funding was provided initially through the Vote of the Department of the Taoiseach and subsequently through the Vote of my Department since its establishment in 1993. Details of the total departmental funding provided to the museum between the years 1991-97 are as follows: in the start-up year of 1991 the grant-in-aid was £1.55 million. In 1992 the figure was £1.102 million. Since the establishment of my Department the grant-in-aid has increased from £1.161 million in 1993 to £1.515 million in 1997, a 34 per cent increase in funding over the five year period. Since 1993 funding through the Office of Public Works for minor capital and maintenance works at the museum amounting to £250,000 per annum has also been provided.

In addition significant capital works have been undertaken by the Office of Public Works, both initially to fit out the Royal Hospital for the museum and subsequently to develop artists' studios in the coachhouse. In addition the museum is also enabled to avail of a tax relief provision which is designed to encourage donations of heritage works of art to our core collecting institutions. Through this measure the Irish Museum of Modern Art has received an important donation of significant art works from the art collector Vincent Ferguson valued at £132,000.

In a relatively short time the museum has taken its place in the national and international "family" of art museums and as a direct result has been able to negotiate important loans of artworks from key museums.

In assessing the work of the museum over its first five years it is reasonable to say that the Board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art has more than met initial projections in terms of creating audience access, engagement and participation in the visual art and has developed a dynamic public space both in the Royal Hospital and throughout the country in its regional work. I am aware that the board is currently reviewing its progress in the light of its achievements in the first five years and that it is formulating strategies for charting the course of the museum for the years ahead. As such regular reviews are always desirable in the ongoing process of renewal I would like to commend the board for this work. I would also like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the work of the board, both the members of the current board and of the first board, and the dedicated effort of the Director and staff who have made this project the success it is.

Apart from the ongoing development of the Irish Museum of Modern Art as a living and vibrant institution a number of important buildings have been or are being adapted for public use. There has been the restoration and adaptation of old coach houses as studio and educational workshops spaces which I have already referred to. Two buildings will shortly be ready to cater for artists with disabilities. A building known as the Deputy Master's House is being developed at a total cost of £1.5 million, of which £600,000 is being sourced from EU funds under the Operational Programme for Tourism 1994-99. This will open in early 1999 as a series of climate controlled galleries enabling important but fragile artworks to be put on long-term display.

I am sure the Deputy will agree that all of these developments augur well for the future of this important cultural institution.