First, a vote of thanks to the Minister for the Arts, Sile de Valera, for finally securing the £26 million in Arts Council funding it will take to fund the Arts Plan. This is a 25 per cent increase on last year's funding, a leap of £5.16 million. The former Minister, Michael D. Higgins, had promised to bring in that level of funding this time next year.

It has to be said, however, that it was Higgins who commissioned the plan from the Arts Council in the first place and he doubled Arts Council funding during his ministry. This increase is the result of a combined effort, by de Valera, Higgins, the Arts Council and, most of all, by artists and the general public, to stop the arts slipping down the political agenda.

The hard part of all of this is that the need for artistic growth will not stop there and its cost will rise. After the claps on the back, the effort must continue so that the funding continues to grow.