A mixture of dismay and elation has greeted the announcement by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) of its grant allocations for 1999/2000 writes Jane Coyle. The Council itself has expressed disappointment that its government increase is up by just 3.4 per cent on last year, compared with the 15 per cent rise received by the Arts Council of England. The differential between arts funding in Northern Ireland and its counterparts in England, Wales and Scotland has now widened even further.
"It means that parity of funding is even further away. There are many years of catching up to be done", says chief executive Brian Ferran. "We are further behind now than ever before. We have been heavily reliant on the Lottery for additional funds, but the Lottery can't do everything." The Council's response was mild compared to that of the Belfast Grand Opera House, whose revenue grant has been cut by £35,000 to £555,000. Citing the continuing commercial success achieved by the theatre since the Grand Opera House Trust was formed in 1994, director Derek Nicholls said: "Sadly, those whom the Arts Council is targeting are the people of Northern Ireland. The Grand Opera House has had five years of outstanding success.
The cut imposed for 1999/2000 seems a discouraging and inappropriate response by the Arts Council." ear was outraged that its funding had been axed. and interpreted the decision as a cultural insult.
Community arts in Belfast and Derry fared a little better, however, with the Beat Initiative in East Belfast and Derry's Nerve Centre each receiving an extra £3,000. And there were increases of £7,500 and £10,000 to Tinderbox and Kabosh theatre companies respectively. A long-awaited additional £150,000 will come to the underfunded Ulster Orchestra, though ACNI is at pains to stress that other funding bodies will be involved in this massive increase, aimed at helping relieve the serious financial difficulties facing the orchestra. An uplift of £115,000 was awarded to Castleward Opera (which has absorbed some of the role and funding of the now defunct Opera Northern Ireland). Funding has also been set aside for a feasibility study to be jointly conducted by the arts councils in Belfast and Dublin on the proposed all-Ireland opera company.
