This article is from page 12 of the 2013-07-02 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
FUNDING for small festivals in Clare has been slashed by more than 20 per cent in the latest tranche of funding announced by the Arts Council.
The funding, which was announced last week, will impact on festival taking place in the second half of 2013. Overall funding for six Clare festivals during this period come to € 20,000 – a reduction of a reduction of € 5,080 on the same tranche of funding last year.
The festival worst effected are the Willie Keane Memorial Festival, whose Art Council funding was cut by a whopping 35 per cent (from € 3,080 in 2012 to € 2,000 this year) and the Feakle International Traditional Music Festival, which saw a cut by 21.5 per cent (from € 7,000 in 2012 to € 5, 500 in 2013).
Funding was also granted to the Shannon Winter Music Festival (€ 4,500); Ennis Street Festival (€ 3,000), which taking place in July; the Crotty/Galvin Traditional Music Frestival Weekend (€ 3,000), which will be held in Moyasta in September and Music in the Glens in in Killaloe (€ 2,000).
This brings the total allocated to Clare through the Festival and Events Scheme (formally the Small Arts Festivals Scheme) to € 44,500 for 2013. Total Arts Council funding for small festivals in Clare amounted to € 83,100 in 2007 – meaning that funding levels in the county have dropped by more than 46 per cent over the last six years.
These continued cuts to the arts budget has prompted the chairperson for the Arts Council to call on the Government to take a different approach to funding the arts.
Chairwoman Pat Moylan has said the State should not take such a narrow view of stimuli for the economy and it needs to get away from the Celtic Tiger thinking that the only stimulus jobs that can be created are in construction.
“Sometimes there is too traditional a view that what creates jobs quickly are construction projects only. This is narrow thinking. The arts has untapped potential, already supports almost 21,000 jobs and contributes significantly to the economy,” she said.