Sir, – Josepha Madigan, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in her interview with Rosita Boland (Arts, November 29th) states:
“I think culture is a broad, sweeping word that encompasses our creativity; our sense of self; our sense of soul. I think in Ireland, part of our cultural DNA is where we come from. So in this particular department, I think Heritage and the Gaeltacht encompass part of culture and it is about being Irish.”
Then why is the department not just called the Department of Culture? I say this as Arts has been dropped for no apparent reason so why not drop the other two designations?
Further, I have another definition of culture that she might be interested in: the arts are created by individuals and culture is the society that consumes those arts through the various unique disciplines of expression. – Yours, etc,
SAMUEL WALSH,
Cloonlara,
Co Clare.
A chara, – I am delighted that Minister for Culture Josepha Madigan believes in supporting community arts organisations as the bedrock of the arts in Ireland (Arts, November 29th).
Most of the financial support such organisations receive comes from local authorities. For 2019, however, the Arts Council again cut its support grant to Wexford County Council to manage our programme (as it did with other local authorities). In spite of this, as councillors, we voted to increase our arts budget. – Is mise,
Cllr MALCOLM BYRNE,
Wexford County Council,
Gorey, Co Wexford.