Sir, – Fintan O'Toole brought a wry smile to my face when he blithely dismissed the current Government as "the most philistine of recent decades" because of the cuts to "arts" funding, which to me were surprisingly modest given the dire state of the public finances ("No Oscar nomination for best supporting environment", Opinion & Analysis, January 19th).
Is there anything more philistine than directly equating one’s love or appreciation for the arts with the precise amount of cash spent thereon?
I could take Fintan O’Toole to task for the other questionable assertions made in his column, which reflected rather poorly on the entitlement attitude of Ireland’s insular artistic elite.
However, I will just remind your columnist that the film director he described as "brilliant" is probably better known to the broader Irish population as the director of the "Carlsberg don't do . . ." beer commercials. Indeed in a recent Financial Times interview, Lenny Abrahamson remarked that "commercials helped me into a genuine creative life, much more than if I'd stayed in the uncompromising zone of my bedsit".
Fintan O’Toole should realise that there is life outside of the garret for the most talented artists and that relying heavily on an insecure Government’s fear of disdain from arts snobs is a rather poor career strategy. – Yours, etc,
MATTHEW GLOVER,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.