Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 4 Jul 2001

Vol. 540 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Tinteán Theatre Project.

Mr. Spring

I appreciate that your office, a Cheann Comhairle, facilitated both myself and Deputy Deenihan this evening and I am particularly glad the Minister is in the House. My concern is in relation to a broadcast on Kerry Radio last week quoting a Department source stating that this project is not on the short list of projects to be funded by the Minister under her programme. I remind the Minister that she met the organising group for the Tinteán Theatre Project, Ceoil Chiarraí, as the production company, and the North Kerry Arts, Culture and Heritage Society in 1997. When they visited her in her constituency, they explained to her that they had fund raised, particularly abroad, in relation to their project and that they had £100,000 saved. It is fair to quote the Minister as encouraging the deputation to keep on fund raising and to carry on with the project.

Since that time, the company has put itself in a very sound financial situation. It has developed from a very small humble origin back in the 1980s. It has toured abroad, particularly Australia and the United States, where it is very well established, and Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and the Benelux countries. Through hard work and endeavour, it is a very well established company. When it met the Minister in 1997 – I think it was the only occasion – it only had £100,000, but it has greatly enhanced its situation. It has received a site from Kerry County Council in Ballybunion with a value of £250,000. It has fund raised £600,000 through its efforts and work abroad, which is in the bank. It also has a bank facility for £200,000. The overall cost of the project is in the region of £1.4 million.

The application has been made to the Minister for a sum in the region of £650,000. While the area has some world renown in terms of the golf facilities, the seaside resort has not particularly benefited from the Celtic tiger or industrial development. It is extremely unlikely that Ballybunion will be assisted by or benefit from industrial development given the disadvantage Kerry is at in terms of the Border, midland and western regions. This is an opportunity for double assistance by way of Government grant.

We are talking about over 80 permanent jobs. The company needs a base and the ideal place where it wants to be situated, in co-operation with the local authority, is Ballybunion. We are talking about a great opportunity. At present it is using a facility in Killarney where it has a show seven nights per week. It is successful but it is a temporary private family arrangement in Killarney. There are potential contracts with Paramount Studios. There is a possibility for a further 200 to 300 jobs for shows in the Paramount Studios theme parks all over the United States of America. It is what I would consider to be a very viable project. It is locally based, locally driven and well supported by the local community. Over 300 people attended a public meeting in Ballybunion last Monday at 4 p.m. because of the concern in the town and area regarding the broadcast that north Kerry would not benefit under the Minister's scheme which, I understand, will be announced in the next number of weeks.

The business plan, which is extremely well prepared and thorough, holds out the very real prospect that what the company needs is a once-off capital grant to enable it to provide a base. It needs a facility of its own. At present it has 82 people in full-time employment from all parts of Kerry and abroad. It has a payroll bill of approximately £25,000 a week in the local economy. However, it needs a full-time training facility, particularly during the winter season. It needs a base in Ballybunion. It has registered charitable status and it is well located in the community.

I ask the Minister to assure the House that its application is still under consideration. I would be surprised if an official of the Department gave out information to the effect that north Kerry was being excluded for any particular reason or because there is another project in south Kerry and that only one project in Kerry will benefit. They are totally different as I understand the basis of the two projects. This is a very sustainable project offering jobs to an area to which, I am sure Deputy Deenihan will agree, it has been very difficult to attract overseas and local investment over the last number of years. It has benefited from the seaside resort scheme which we brought to Cabinet in the mid-1990s. That has had a certain benefit in Ballybunion.

It is fair to say all Coalition Governments in recent years have encouraged people to fund raise, to raise capital locally and to have a good local support base. That is what we have in this project. We have good people who have organised and worked very hard and long hours to raise the money. I ask the Minister to give us an assurance that this project will receive consideration. I have no problem with the decision making process as long as this project is given a fair shake when it comes to the distribution on the basis of its viability, and this is a very viable project and a very necessary one for Ballybunion.

Mr. Deenihan

I thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for allowing this matter on the Adjournment. It is the fifth occasion I have attempted to raise it on the Adjournment and I am delighted to have the opportunity to address this subject. The Tinteán Project at Ballybunion, County Kerry, is being promoted by the North Kerry Arts, Culture and Heritage Society Limited. The state of the art theatre, which will be the centrepiece of the Tinteán, will operate as an institute of contemporary traditional Irish dance with a professional dance company and as an advanced teaching and training centre for traditional Irish dance. The mission of the North Kerry Arts, Culture and Heritage Society Limited is to create and present traditional Irish dance in a contemporary format to a national and international audience and to encourage the participation in and performance of Irish traditional and contemporary dance and music in the south-west.

Since 1985 dancers and musicians from the north Kerry area have toured with contemporary traditional Irish music and dance productions to such countries as Australia, New Zealand, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, Germany and to most other European countries. They received critical acclaim and enjoyed great success. In 1996, this group of dancers and musicians formed the Kerry Arts, Culture and Heritage Society Limited. The society is community based with its board of directors all living in the north Kerry area. I am honoured to be one of the directors of this society and I intend to do everything possible to ensure this project reaches fruition. The society has used Ballybunion as its base for a number of years and has recruited a number of dancers and musicians from the area.

In 1999, the society initiated the Dance on the Moon production. This production was developed in co-operation with an associated professional contemporary dance company, Ceoil Chiarraí. The production was staged in the national event centre in Killarney in the summer of 2000 and attracted audiences of over 40,000. It has won critical acclaim from many experts, including a very positive endorsement from the Minister's colleague, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Cowen. The Tinteán will act as a performance centre for the society where audiences will be entertained by a professional dance troupe over the summer months. This will attract a new type of tourist to the area and, hopefully, will act as a catalyst for the revival and regeneration of Ballybunion, one of the oldest and most renowned of our traditional tourist seaside resorts.

During the winter months, the Tinteán will become a training centre for the resident dance troupe when it is not on tour. It will also become a school for the teaching of traditional Irish dance under the direction of Ireland's top dance teachers. Young dancers from all parts of Ireland, the UK, the US and other parts of the world will come to Ballybunion to develop their dance skills under the guidance of these experts. This will provide a year-round tourism product for Ballybunion and will have a major spin-off effect in the local community.

The society has engaged the services of one of Europe's top consultants in dance studios and theatre venues – London-based Burrell, Foley and Fisher who are also consultants to the Abbey Theatre. The Tralee Institute of Technology will enter into an arrangement with the society to use the facility to develop its courses.

The total cost of this project will be in the region of £1.4 million. The society has raised £500,000 primarily from the profits of its various world wide productions. It also has the offer of a £250,000 loan facility from a local bank. The society applied to the Minister under the ACCESS programme for a grant of £600,000, a modest figure. I cannot imagine that many other groups which apply for funding have £500,000 in the bank and a guaranteed loan of £250,000.

Having met its promoters, the Minister is very familiar with this exciting and innovative project. Mr. Micheál Carr, whom I commend for his energy and perseverance, has made representations to the Minister on a number of occasions. I appeal to the Minister to provide funding for this project. There will be a natural and positive synergy between this project and the proposed health and leisure centre in Ballybunion as professional dancers and dance students will use the fitness facilities in the new centre.

The Minister, who recently opened a literary and cultural centre in Listowel, will be aware that north Kerry is steeped in heritage and culture and this project offers an ideal opportunity to further capitalise on this great tradition.

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

I thank Deputies Spring and Deenihan for raising these matters. I have secured a total allocation of £36 million for the arts and culture enhancement support scheme – ACCESS – for the years 2001-04. The scheme's primary aim is to ensure that all citizens have easy access to adequate venues for the creation, expression, and appreciation of arts and culture, including heritage. This scheme will fit well with the current three-year arts plan of the Arts Council which I am funding to a level of £100 million.

The scheme will assist the four main categories of arts and cultural infrastructure – arts centres, theatres, galleries, and museums and funds will be allocated under three broad strands, as follows: The regional, county and city projects strand will address the provision of large scale infrastructure development for arts and cultural facilities to meet the demonstrated needs of a region, county or city. Projects qualifying under this strand will include those which facilitate the development of strategic partnerships between local authorities, the arts sector and other key players while addressing the provision of workshop spaces, studios, rehearsal areas, education and community arts facilities.

The strand dealing with the redevelopment of existing facilities and venues, including new build, additional build or major refurbishment will target existing arts and cultural operators to facilitate major refurbishment of existing facilities and venues. As with strand 1, operators will be encouraged to examine the possibility of entering into strategic partnerships with other operators in the field in order to share space and resources and maximise revenue funding.

The community based projects strand will assist the development of smaller scale culture and arts facilities at local and community level, be they new facilities or the refurbishment of existing facilities.

I announced details of the ACCESS programme in May 2000 and applications for grant assistance were invited in newspaper advertisements the following month. The deadline for receipt of applications was 31 October 2000 and by that date I had received more than 170 applications.

The committee established by me to assess the applications for funding under the ACCESS programme, including the application for the Ballybunion project, recently completed its work. It is anticipated that a determination will be made in the near future as to which projects will be approved for grant assistance.