This article is from page 8 of the 2010-02-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
ARTISTIC funding in Clare has been dramatically cut over the last three years, with figures just released by the Arts Council indicating a 15 per cent drop in funding for major projects in just two years.
The largest single drop was in the funding that the Arts Council gave to Clare County Council for the sup-
port of local artists which fell from €115,000 in 2008 to just €87,000 this year.
The four main Clare organisations funded by the Arts Council – Clare County Council, Glor, the Willie Clancy Summer School, and Salmon Poetry – saw a combined funding of €352,000 in 2008 drop to €332,000 in 2009 and €302,000 for this year.
Despite these drops, worse news
is likely to come when the funding for smaller individual organisations or projects 1s confirmed later in the year.
In 2008, Arts Council funding for Clare projects through the Bursary Awards, Commissions and the Deis Award Scheme totalled more than €150,000. Funding under the same three schemes for 2009 totalled just €25,500 for Clare groups last year,
with a further cut likely to be en- forced this year.
Despite these cuts, the chairman of the Arts Council, Pat Moylan, was largely upbeat about the prospects of Clare artists in the year ahead.
‘The council sought to ensure that organisations continue to bring the best of the arts to audiences across Ireland,” he said.
“The council prioritised regional balance, where key venues and festi- vals have been supported to produce the best of the arts for people right across the country. In addition, the Arts Council has established a new fund for touring; this will extend the life of productions, exhibitions and performances, and ensure more peo- ple experience the arts in 2010.”
A total of €307,000 in funding for Clare projects was announced by the Arts Council last week.
This funding was awarded to Glor (€90,000), Clare County Council (€87,000), the Willie Clancy Sum- mer School (€85,000), Salmon Poet- ry (€40,000) and the Irish Pipe Band Association (€5,000).
Besides cuts to its Arts Council funding, Glor has also seen a sizable cut in the amount of money being given to the centre by Clare and En- nis County Councils. The venue will receive €47,000 less in funding from the local authorities in 2010 than it did in 2009.