HARD-PRESSED arts groups in the city have expressed their concern after Communities Minister Gordon Lyons told the Stormont chamber of his intention to shake-up the sector.
Answering a question from DUP colleague Trevor Clarke MLA about “regional balance” in the arts, Minister Lyons said he had sent a “letter of expectations” to the Arts Council in relation to “realignment of funding”.
Arts groups in Belfast, already struggling under reduced budgets, are fearful that the Minister’s intervention will impact on their funding. Speaking off the record, one group said they were concerned that money would be taken away from existing projects and redirected towards the loyalist band scene.
"There is a lot of unease throughout the arts community after the Minister's statement," we were told, "because groups are struggling as it is with a lack of funding. Reading between the lines, it sounds like this signals an intention to send more money the way of bands. That might be okay if there was extra money found for that, but if it happens at the expense of arts groups that have been and are at the heart of the sector then that's going to be bad news for creatives and the arts."
Speaking in the chamber on February 10, Trevor Clarke, asked the Minister: “I am sure that you will be forgiven for believing, like me, that the arts seem to focus only on a very small number of places. What can you do to assure all those other groups that deserve equal funding and balance that what you are introducing now will address that?”
Replying, Minister Lyons said he wanted to find new ways to support the arts and "maximise the contribution that it can make by driving equality of access and opportunity across socio-economic groupings, age, geography and so on."
"I want to encourage greater participation, particularly from people and communities that might feel that the arts are not quite for them or that their cultural or artistic activities and traditions do not quite fit," he added.
"I have written a letter about my expectations to the chair and chief executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. We cannot maintain the status quo and simply hope for change. The arts should be enjoyed and experienced by every community equally in Northern Ireland, but that is not always the case.
"I recognise that some realignment of funding will need to accompany a realignment of priorities, and I also realise that that realignment will have implications for some existing plans and programmes. For that reason, I thought that it was reasonable to give the Arts Council timely notice in the form of that letter of expectations. In all that work, I will continue to advocate for the arts and to make the case for more investment but, importantly, investment that is well targeted as well.”
A spokesperson for the Arts Council said: “We are currently in discussion with the Department for Communities regarding the letter of expectations.”
