It's all eyes on the Minister for Communities Gordon Lyons this week as monitoring round monies - those funds which come into the Executive's coffers mid-year - are splashed around.
Yesterday, our senior citizens got some good news with the decision of the Minister to allocate a £17m windfall from the monitoring round towards a limited winter fuel payment. Good call.
At this juncture, it's unclear whether the minister will also find some additional cash for the local Arts Council - the most underfunded and under-appreciated arts council in these islands.
But as the DUP man ponders where to place his pennies, Finance Minister Caoimhe Archibald also has a chance to step up for our artists.
Hopefully the Minister who disburses the funds to colleagues has kept a few bob back to meet her own department's obligations.
In particular, the Sinn Féin representative has stewardship of what is known as the NI Art Collection.This is a priceless collection of work by local artists which was started in the early sixties by Terence O'Neill, no less. Over many years — until the tradition was abandoned in the noughties — Ministers would buy the work of artists from across the North and add their works to the collection. It was a boost for struggling artists and a win for the public as the works added to an already impressive collection which can be seen not just in government offices but in public buildings like libraries and health centres.
In times of straitened finances, mandarins are often inclined to cease funding to the arts. Thus it was with the Department of Finance commitment after I left the ministry in 2017. However, a gentle nudge and the good work of spending around £20,000 per year on the work of local artists continued.
Were artists abandoned during the more recent government lockdowns or was this budgetary commitment honoured? That I don't know. But I did write to Minister Archibald recently asking that she ensures the Art Collection continues to be updated by the purchase of new works.
On a recent visit to the Ormeau studio of Anna McKeever (above), I was reminded of the amazing talent of our visual artists but also of how tough it is to make a living through the arts. Having a work included in the NI Arts Collection not only puts a few pounds in the artist's pocket but also ups their profile in a way which is beneficial both commercially and spiritually.
If we could get off base one with a guarantee that the NI Arts Collection is being maintained and put on display then we could move on to another easy way to elevate the arts: The per-cent-for-art initiative introduced by the Department of Finance with the agreement of all departments in 2016 was to ensure one per cent of capital expenditures goes towards expenditure on art works which enhance new buildings and infrastructure. Was that initiative ever realised or did it remain just a promise. I've asked Minister Archibald that question too.
Government investment in the arts here has fallen since 2011 to £9.7m in 2023. Things haven't improved since. Mad as it sounds, we spent more on the arts fifteen years ago then we do now.
In the Republic of Ireland, meanwhile, the latest budget for the Arts Council was a cool €140m.
That, I fear, paints a pretty dismal picture of our priorities north of the border.
