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Statement from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland on funding for the
Belfast Festival at Queen’s

 

  • The Arts Council’s history of being a long-running supporter of the Belfast Festival at Queen’s speaks for itself. We would love to see a secure funding future for the festival but increases from the public purse via the Arts Council cannot be confirmed at this moment.

 

  • Looking to the future, the Arts Council is determined to work alongside arts partners like the Belfast Festival at Queen’s, in order to rectify the decline in government funding for the arts and to encourage greater investment by the private sector. We need this to ensure that per capita spending on arts and culture in Northern Ireland increases to match the levels spent elsewhere in Britain and Ireland.

 

  • This year alone the Arts Council provided over £204,000 to festival programme costs; an increase of £9,000 on our funding to Queen’s in 2005. All of this goes towards helping Festival to make the terrific contribution to the cultural life of Belfast that they’ve made over the last 40 years, and we will do our best to help them to continue in this.

 

  • It’s worth pointing out that Council effectively doubled its financial contribution to this year’s programme through additional indirect funding which we supplied to the touring theatre productions. For example shows like the very successful History Boys at the Grand Opera House or the Liverpool Boat by Red Lead were also supported by the Arts Council.

 

  • We met with Festival staff today to discuss their funding applications for the next three years and Council will support their application to the best of our ability. However, that funding announcement won’t be made until February 2007, in line with the many other arts organisations applying to Council for money from the same pot.

 

  • It is in everyone’s interests to ensure we have a vibrant arts and cultural sector contributing to the social and economic vitality of this city and Northern Ireland as a whole; that includes the private sector and the benefits they can earn from increasing their investment in the arts.