Surprise territory gain for unionists

The appointment of the Michael McGimpsey of the Ulster Unioinist Party as Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure came as something of a shock to many in the North's arts community. Many thought the allocation of the ministry would be a toss-up between Bairbre de Brun (SF) and id Brid Rodgers (SDLP).

The luck of the draw may turn out to have favoured the development of arts and culture on both parts of the island, however. It is widely acknowledged that the arts have grown much more healthily within the nationalist communities than in the unionist ones. A unionist minister for the arts will have to work harder to find cultural expression for his own community, which may lead to more new ideas. Michael McGimpsey has always been firmly on the liberal side of the UUP. He is a good speaker and has spoken out strongly in favour of the Agreement. Damian Smyth, public affairs officer with the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, describes him as "a cultivated person in the broadest sense of the word". It was an unexpected appointment, he says, "but after Sinn Fein got education the Ulster Unionists felt they had to have the other cultural ministry".

In a place where two cultures have been at war, there is no doubt but that McGimpsey's is a pivotal ministry. He has responsibility for policy on minority languages, for instance. Though his brother Chris speaks Irish, Michael is not known to do so. The North-South body, An Foras Teanga, which is expected to be set up today, will have a huge part to play in fostering Irish. However, in some sections of the North's active Irish-speaking community there is deep disappointment that de Brun - referred to by some, hopefully, as "our Minister" - did not get the arts ministry. This may cause trouble for McGimpsey down the line.

Without a doubt, there will be heated discussions between the Minister and the Arts and Culture committee of 11, which is chaired by the SDLP's Eamon O'Neill and has Mary Nelis (SF) as Deputy Chair. From this distance, at least, it's less a threatening thought than an exciting one, however - a "smithy of the soul" if ever there was one.

The arts sector will put the Minister under a lot of pressure. Damian Smyth points out that there has not been a major increase in Arts Council funding since 1989 - major developments such as the new theatres in Cookstown, Omagh, Armagh and Derry come as a result of lottery funding. While per capita funding still looks reasonable compared with An Chomhairle Ealaion's, it compares badly with UK funding, particularly when you consider the North's special circumstances: a large rural population, and a series of social walls which exclude certain people from certain places and practices: "Belfast is a split city. There are venues such as the Ulster Hall and the Waterfront Hall which are not seen as accessible to people from some parts of the city."

It's hard to see how there can be a major increase in funding without a coherent plan for the arts - the current plan, To the Millennium, which is neither far-reaching nor inspiring, is about to expire. Perhaps McGimpsey will call on the Arts Council to prepare one.

Any new planning will be done in the context of close North/South co-operation. Yesterday the Councils jointly announced a major review of the performing arts infrastructure on both parts of the island, which will be led by Phelim Donlon, former drama officer of An Chomhairle Ealaion. A new database will be prepared and a cross-border system of financial planning for the performing arts will be implemented as a result of the review.

The new members of Aosdana are visual artists Maud Cotter, Michael Davitt, Diarmuid Delargy and Michael Mulcahy; the poets, Michael Davitt and Theo Dorgan; the playwrights Jim Nolan and Michael Harding; and the composer, Michael Holohan . . . Dr Bernadette Greevy, Artistic Director of the Anna Livia Opera Festival, announced today that Lisa O'Connor is the winner of a competition to design the programme cover - tickets for the Festival, which opens on June 16th, will be on sale from tomorrow at the Gaiety Theatre . . . Offload, an "end of the century" art sale of works by Wicklow artist Des Fox, with pieces for as little as £5, will take place in the basement, Lower Hatch Street, Dublin, tomorrow (12.30 p.m.-7.30 p.m.) and Saturday (10.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.). Tel: 087-2503482