And the bad

But when it comes to music the Arts Council doesn't have a good record for following up its declarations with deeds - in the past it has been altogether too happy to leave music to the mercy of RTE and the National Concert Hall. In the wake of the rise occasioned by the development of the ICO, music funding has begun to fall back as a percentage of overall expenditure. And it's hardly a good sign that the altogether better resourced area of drama is budgeted for an increase of £688,000 in 1997, with music projected at only £107,000, the major beneficiary being jazz.