Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 April 2019
222. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the degree to which she directly or indirectly continues to support the arts by way of grant aid with particular reference to commemorative events, musical or stage productions at local level; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16952/19]
View answerThe Creative Ireland Programme is a culture-based programme led by my Department designed to promote individual, community and national wellbeing. Its core proposition is that participation in cultural activity drives personal and collective creativity, with significant implications for individual and societal wellbeing and achievement.
Under Pillar 2 of the Programme - 'Enabling Creativity in Every Community', in 2018, my Department allocated a sum of €2m and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government a sum of €1m to all 31 local authorities (€96,000 each approximately) to enable them support an extensive programme of activities, events and initiatives in each county. This level of funding has been maintained for this year.
In total in 2018, over 1,300 different initiatives around Ireland were funded under Pillar 2 including arts projects, concerts, exhibitions, festivals, performances and workshops among many other activities. They covered areas such as architecture, biodiversity, crafts, heritage, dance, film, history, literature, music, photography, poetry, storytelling, theatre and the visual arts. Of these many initiatives, twenty were commemorative events, 120 related to music while over 80 covered drama, stage and theatre productions. A full breakdown of events supported in 2018 is listed in the 2018 End of Year Report for the Creative Ireland Programme which can be found here: https://www.creativeireland.gov.ie/en/library.
In addition, in 2018, my Department allocated a separate sum of €5,000 to each local authority which supported over 100 commemorative events as part of the Decade of Commemorations programme last year. The local authorities have a leading role in supporting the national conversation about the final phase of the Decade of Centenaries by encouraging respectful, inclusive and authentic citizen engagement debate and analysis, which is sensitive to the local context. Funding of €10,000 is being allocated to each local authority this year to support ongoing development of local commemorative events under the Decade of Centenaries programme.
