£6.89 MILLION FOR THE ARTS Assembly’s grant to the arts held at standstill Following the government’s confirmation of as-you-were funding for the year 2000/01, Arts Council Chairman Brian Walker expressed his disappointment that the grant from the new Assembly did not at least match inflation. Prof Walker issued his statement as more than 200 arts organisations throughout Northern Ireland awaited news of their grant allocations from the Council for the incoming year. Prof Walker described the dilemma of his Council in ensuring that high quality arts prosper: "This year the Arts Council received revenue requests totalling £9m, but an allocation from Government of £6.89 million. We try to acknowledge within our funding the many and varied achievements and qualities of the arts in Northern Ireland, but this has been made very difficult by a continued squeeze on public funding." "Organisations we fund at this time of the year are the life blood of the arts here," Prof Walker continued. "For their day-to-day running they are dependent entirely on Arts Council support. They are employers, they are training grounds for high achievement in all forms of the arts, and they are the organisations which tell nothing but good news about Northern Ireland to the rest of the world. They deserve funding which is at least adequate to their value in our society." |
