This article is from page 8 of the 2012-11-20 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
GLÓR’S continued survival as a centre of excellence for the performing arts in Clare is down to grant aid provided by cash-strapped local authorities in the county.
New figures released this week show that Glór wouldn’t be able to operate as a beacon for the performing arts, but for the grant aid given to it by both Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council.
The figures reveal that an addi- tional € 154,000 was given to Glór by Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council last year, so that historical financial losses could be addressed at the centre which first opened its doors 11 years ago this month.
This aid comes on top of the annual € 270,000 subsidy that the two local authorities provide between them to the state-of-the-art facility that can cater for up to 600 people.
Glór’s losses of € 112,103 last year were on top of the € 154,146 accumulated losses that were in place at the start of 2011.
The figures for 2011 show that Glor’s income last year decreased from € 1.16m to € 1m with its spend remaining static at € 1.164m.
The centre has received huge financially backing over the past 12 years, since it was announced as a flagship arts project for the county under Sí le de Valera’s watch as Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht from 1997 to 2002.
Only a few months before it opened, Minister de Valera stepped in to secure the future of the € 8.2m the centre after a short-fall of € 2.5m emerged in the project by securing the money through her departments Access Scheme.
That allocation now brought Minister de Valera’s total contribution to the project to € 5.7m.
Along with the € 5.7m allocated by the minister, the project also received € 1.9m from Clare County Council and Ennis Town Council, as well as € 635,000 in European Union funding.
Glór’s new director, Gemma Carcaterra, has said that the additional grant aid from the two local authorities was to deal with accumulated losses, with the centre projected to break-even for 2012.
“This is a significant achievement within the current climate when all arts organisations are facing considerable challenges,” she said.
“For the past number of years, the recession impacted on the organisation and continues to do so.
“This is a similar situation to the majority of arts organisation across the country and Glór is surviving well in comparison,” she added.