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Funding for the Irish Writers’ Centre has been withdrawn: an Arts Council report cites value for money and quality of service, while the centre is mystified about the cut. Fiona McCanninvestigates

THE NEWS JUST before Christmas that the Arts Council had completely cut funding for the Irish Writers’ Centre has been greeted with consternation in some quarters, and came as a shock to many, not least to the centre’s director, Cathal McCabe, who says “we’re totally mystified”. The reasons set out in the recommendation made to the council members by its own executive, which was sent to the Irish Writers’ Centre (IWC) and has been seen by The Irish Times, include concerns about the centre’s visibility, value for money and quality of service to writers.