Forum for Music in Ireland

Forum for Music in Ireland, 1999-2009:  

‘Grasping the Nettle’

Summary of Plenary 8^th December 2009

Morning session 11-1

Tania Banotti- National Campaign for the Arts/ Theatre Forum

The National Camnpaign for the Arts is led by a pro-bono group representing all of the art forms. It was founded in response to disturbing elements found in the McCarthy Report.

Focusing on the December budget the Campaign decided to focus on 5 main goals with budget day as ‘D-Day’:

• Retention of Culture Ireland, the agency for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide.
• Retention of The Irish Film Board, development agency of the Irish film industry.
• Maintenance of existing levels of funding to the Arts Council.
• Retention of the artists’ income tax exemption scheme.
• Commitment to retain the arts portfolio at cabinet as part of a senior ministerial portfolio.

(3 of the 5 goals were achieved)

There were three main tactics in the strategy to raise awareness:

• Engage the media at national and local level and get artists to speak out to generate publicity. It was discovered that the arts had sympathetic partners in journalism.
• Meet as many politicians as possible (21% met so far)
• Set up local campaigns by constituency and get as many artists as possible to register in their constituency. Local effort proved a revelation. For more information on local initiatives please check the Campaign website- www.ncfa.ie

Of all the arts groups, musicians have been the group that have not mobilised well. The Campaign is keen to involve more musicians to help educate politicians about the value of arts organisations to Ireland.

About the Theatre Forum:

Founded in 2003 out of a multiplicity of groups, this organisation is run by two full time administrators and receives Arts Council funding and further revenue through members’ fees. The Forum runs practical training days, meetings of venue managers, productions companies and more and circulates key industry information to members. Tania believes such work cannot be done on a voluntary basis.

Aisling Ryan Music Network on the U2/Music Network Music Education Scheme.

Aisling placed the Music Network scheme in context by relating the history of this campaign to increase provision for music education for all children in Ireland. Statistics such as the fact that only 0.2% of Irish children (rising more recently to 1%) have access to instrumental/vocal tuition in Ireland compared to 12.2% in Sweden and the 6-8% EU average supports the need for such a campaign.

Given that this access is not equitable, it was terrific to form a partnership with U2 and the Ireland Funds in 2009 that would improve access dramatically. The project will roll out between 2010 and 2015 and a project manager will be appointed in early 2010. After that applications for funding will be sought and these applications must include an association with a VEC who will match funding.

Full details are not available as yet but those interested in receiving information were asked to contact Music Network to register an interest.

Gerard Flanagan- Kylemore College CDVEC

Gerard Flanagan spoke from his perspective as the recipient of funding for a pilot project involving his College and partners in the Dublin area. This pilot serves as a good model for the type of project that could receive funding. Gerard gave a detailed account of the setting up of this pilot and included a ‘how-to’ element in his talk ranging from human resources concerns to strategic planning. Gerard kindly agreed to let us circulate his powerpoint presentation, so for a more detailed summary, please find it attached.

Sean MacCarthaigh- Head of Public Affairs, Arts Council

Sean discussed the value of the Indecon report ‘Assessment of Economic Impact of the Arts’ which argues persuasively that the arts are central to economic recovery. The figures that conservatively 50,000 people are employed in the arts in Ireland which stands up impressively to the 70, 000 employed in ICT demonstrates that the arts need to be valued for more than their ability to move or entertain, although this value must never be forgotten or minimised.

While the Irish economy is getting bad press internationally, the arts in Ireland continue to create good press, with presence on the world stage and accolades that continue to come our way. Already generating 2.4 Billion euro in cultural tourism, MacCarthaigh argued that the Indecon report supports the fact that the arts is one of Ireland’s unique selling propositions and that we should be investing more, not less.