Sir, Michael Dervan's memoir of the Sligo Festival of Contemporary Music (the Irish Times, November 17th) concluded with a partial quotation of remarks ascribed to me when I participated during the festival in a discussion on contemporary music and sound recordings.For the record, I outlined the role of the Arts Council in supporting music of all forms, described its music policy, clarified that we deal generically and strategically with music (which is not just a set of special interest groups), and said that the council had no explicit policy for contemporary music and more than it has for jazz, traditional, choral music, etc.,I also rejected Mr Dervan's attempts to construe the Council's policy as being "pro this" or "anti that" on the basis of his limited knowledge of he council's operations and the facts surrounding its activities, both in music and more generally in arts developments and support.Mr Dervan's piece unhelpfully omitted to state that I outlined in some detail the support programme which the council has developed for contemporary music in recent years, ranging from awards and opportunities for composers to develop and create new work; through to the consolidation of an excellent resource organisation - the Contemporary Music Centre - and an extremely successful initiative in funding the production of CD recordings of contemporary music by Irish composers by Irish composers.One other point I made was that until contemporary music in Ireland produces its own passionate advocates or "champions", the existing stagnant situation regarding performance will continue. If development is not led from within the sector itself, then nothing the council does can have lasting and definitive impact. Recent developments in support for jazz in Ireland, which the council negotiated with the jazz sector itself, illustrate this.I hope that this clarifies the Arts Council position accurately for interested readers and the taxpayers who ultimately foot the bill. - Yours, etc.,Dermot McLaughlin,Music Officer,The Arts Council, Merrion Square,Dublin 2.