Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2012
345. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will outline projects which the Department co-operates with the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure in the North. [54148/12]
View answer347. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the nature, process and outcomes of North-South co-operation undertaken by Waterways Ireland and an Foras Teanga. [54389/12]
View answer348. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the nature, process and outcomes of North-South co-operation undertaken within the areas of the arts, culture, museums, galleries and commemorations. [54390/12]
View answer349. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the nature, process and outcomes of North-South co-operation in relation to built and natural heritage and other environmental matters. [54391/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 345 and 347 to 349, inclusive, together.
My Department is committed to supporting North/South co-operation, particularly in the context of the Good Friday Agreement and the St. Andrews Agreement. As the Deputies will be aware, there are two North South Implementation Bodies under my Department's remit: Waterways Ireland and An Foras Teanga (comprising two agencies - Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency/Tha Boord o Ulstèr-Scotch). The Implementation Bodies carry out a range of activities in line with their statutory remits and supported by funding from their two sponsor Departments - my own Department and the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) in Northern Ireland.
Waterways Ireland, the largest of the North South Implementation bodies, is responsible for the management, maintenance, development and restoration of the inland navigable waterway system throughout the island, principally for recreational purposes. It has responsibility for approximately 1,000km of navigable waterway and, in 2007, Waterways Ireland’s remit was extended by the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) to include responsibility for the restoration of the Ulster Canal between Clones and Upper Lough Erne.
Foras na Gaeilge has a range of responsibilities regarding the Irish language, including facilitating and promoting the development of the language on an all-island basis, while the Ulster-Scots Agency has responsibility for the development of the Ulster-Scots language, including the promotion of greater awareness and use of the language and of Ulster-Scots cultural issues.
The Implementation Bodies operate under the policy direction of the NSMC and the two Governments, and are accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Houses of the Oireachtas, as well as the Ministers of the sponsoring Departments. Further information on these North South Implementation Bodies can be accessed on the following websites: http://www.waterwaysireland.org; http://www.gaeilge.ie; http://www.ulsterscotsagency.com.
I should say that I and officials of my Department are in regular engagement, both formally and informally, in exploring ways to enhance cooperation across various areas of our remit. In this regard, I - along with the Minister of State at my Department, Mr Dinny McGinley, TD - meet with Minister Carál Ní Chuilín, MLA, on a regular basis. Our next formal engagement will be at the NSMC meetings in Inland Waterways and Language sectoral formats on 12 December next in Armagh.
In addition to the language and inland waterways sectors, there are a number of other areas of my Department's operations which also come within the remit of DCAL. These include arts, culture, museums, galleries and commemorations, as well as cooperation in relation to the built and natural heritage, and environmental matters. I am engaged directly with Minister Ni Chuilín on programme development and planning for commemorations, especially those relating to the 1912-1922 period. The larger commemorative events in Northern Ireland this year have been arranged at community level.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service of my Department is represented on the East Border Regional Biodiversity Forum which is a cross-border initiative launched in June 2011(part-financed by the EU European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVA Cross-border Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body). Action for Biodiversity is a 3 year project which aims to deliver a regional and cross border Biodiversity Framework for the East Border Region.
My Department provides funding for collaborations between museums on either side of the border, as well as projects which seek to enhance, celebrate or commemorate the artistic, cultural, musical, film or heritage of the island of Ireland. Projects funded include:
- The Cinemagic Young Peoples Television and Film Festival, that has run successfully for many years in Belfast and since 2008 has also been held annually in Dublin;
- The Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland, established in 1995 as a means of bringing young people from different cultural backgrounds and communities together using music as a form of dialogue. The orchestra is made up of young people aged 12 – 24 years from counties North and South, from as far apart as Cork to North Antrim. The orchestra undertakes cross border and cross community collaborations and provides music education and performance programmes for up to 7,000 children annually.
- The Cinemobile cross-border project, a mobile cinema lorry that tours Ireland showing movies in areas that do not have a cinema. Cinemobile carries out a project that involves the twinning of a number of schools, North and South.
- My Department has also provided funding for the provision of a Cross-Border Cultural Broker to assist in the success of Derry UK City of Culture 2013. The Cultural Broker has responsibility for Arts and Regeneration.
There is ongoing cooperation between the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon for a number of years and a joint annual plenary is held where they discuss and manage common strategic commitments. The Irish Film Board also has ongoing co-operation with Northern Ireland Screen in respect of film funding. In that regard, two new films “Jump” and “Good Vibrations” that are jointly funded by both bodies will be released next year. The Culture Night initiative, which launched in Dublin in 2006, has been extended to many towns, cities and counties across the island of Ireland and the 2012 Culture Night, which took place on 21 September 2012, included participation by 6 regions in Northern Ireland. If the Deputies are interested in receiving more specific information on any particular project or area of co-operation, I would be happy to provide it on request.
