Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism Séamus Brennan has announced an additional €40 million for arts and culture infrastructure projects this year, bringing to almost €245 million overall investment in the area for 2008, writes Fiona McCann.
Speaking at Government Buildings as he unveiled the arts and culture plan for the year, the Minister said the extra €40 million was for the second phase of the Arts and Culture Capital Enhancement Scheme.
"It is targeted at refurbishing theatres and refurbishing artistic locations, and generally upgrading arts, heritage and the whole area of theatre and dance," the Minister said, adding that details of the allocation of the money would be published after Easter.
Mr Brennan also announced that all national cultural institutions in the State would open on Sundays, with the exception of the National Library. However, discussions with the library are continuing. "We're trying to bring a bit of simplicity and clarity to [the opening hours of] cultural institutions," he said. "At the moment, I think there is considerable confusion."
The new plan, which outlines the Government's total investment in the areas of arts, culture and film over 2008, also commits to the restoration of the Heritage Fund - this would allow for the acquisition of heritage objects above a certain value. According to the arts and culture plan, new funding is to be sought for the period 2008-2012, given that the original Heritage Fund is "virtually depleted".
Under the 2008 plan, funding for the Arts Council over the year is set at €82.1 million, as revealed in the budget released at the end of last year. This figure represents a €2 million increase on the figure for 2007, but falls short of the €100 million called for by the council earlier this month.
Speaking at the launch of the plan, Arts Council chairwoman Olive Braiden broadly welcomed the Minister's statements.
"My first reaction is to welcome the fact that the Minister is applauding all the vibrancy of the arts in Ireland," she said.
"He thanked people for the work they put in over the years in building up the arts over every single art form in the country. I doubt if there's anything new in the plan - it's a compilation of everything everybody is doing - but it's good to see he's honouring that and admiring it."
Arts Council director Mary Cloake said the plan's principal merit was that it collated so many different elements from the realm of arts and culture.
"That really hasn't been done before, and it's a start. I think there's more to do, but it's a positive step forward," she said. Culture Ireland welcomed what it called the plan's endorsement of its work. The plan allocates €4.75 million to the organisation. The plan also outlines an initiative to propose a new National Culture Day, on which admission charges for events at publicly funded venues would be removed or reduced.
Emphasis was also placed on increased funding for the Arts Council touring programme, as well as funding for tours for the Abbey and Gate theatres.
The €245 million budget for 2008 includes a special supplementary allocation of €3 million for 2007to be spent this year.
Full list of grants
Arts Council:€82.1 million
Irish Film Board:€23.2 million
Culture Ireland:€4.75 million
National Archives of Ireland:€ 2.2 million
Irish Museum of Modern Art:€8.3 million
Chester Beatty Library:€3.5 million
National Concert Hall:€3.9 million
National Library:€12 million
National Museum Of Ireland:€19.1 million
Access programme:€40.7 million
National Gallery of Ireland:€9.6 million
Hunt Museum:€422,000
Marsh's Library:€400,000
Irish Architectural Archive: €377,000
National Print Museum:€133,000
Foynes Flying Boat Museum:€100,000
Exploration Station:€250,000
1901/1911 Census Digitisation:€1 million
Medieval manuscripts UCC:€200,000
Historia translations project:€200,000
Regional museums programme: €125,000
James Joyce Centre:€167,000
Science Gallery:€100,000
Cork Butter Museum:€30,000
Commemorative programmes, festivals:€2.8 million
Irish Manuscripts Commission:€260,000
Genealogy Project:€305,000
Crawford Gallery, Cork: €2 million
Capital programme for institutions:€23.9 million
Total:€245 million
Section 1003 scheme:€6 million
Section 481 relief: €36 million
Access III:€40 million