THE Cabinet lineup may not be confirmed for a week, but in the meantime, people involved in the arts are speculating desperately as to the identity of the new Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. They reckon the runners for the position include two grandchildren of Eamon de Valera: Sile deValera and Eamon O Cuiv.
De Valera has been a very prolific spokesperson on the arts, but her statements have too often seemed like reactions to the initiatives of Michael D. Higgins. Her commitment to fully fund the Arts Council's Arts Plan next year, rather than a year later, as Michael D. had planned, is positive. Given that Michael D. commissioned the Arts Plan in the first place, it has not gained de Valera much support, however. There are fears that her plans for a host of national institutions have too much style and too little substance: the insistence on a Millennium Project, for instance, sounds hollow in the face of the real, on going, brass tacks needs of the arts community.
Eamon O Cuiv is, by comparison, little known to the arts community, but the possibility of his becoming Minister for the Arts is welcomed by some, because of his general record. His Gaeltacht credentials are extremely good: he has, for instance, managed a Gaeltacht cooperative.
Jim McDaid is another highly respected deputy whose name has been bandied about in this context, perhaps for no better reason than that he is based on Donegal and has Gaeltacht connections. There were rumours at one stage that Liam Lawlor might become Fianna Fail spokesperson on the Arts and Gaeltacht, though his track record would not seem to point him in this direction.
The most support seems to be going to Micheal Martin, who has been the party's education spokesman. As a former chairman of the Arts Committee of Cork City Council, who is well known to the Cork arts community, and is frequently seen at arts events and debates, he would seem to have taken care of the arts side of his CV. He has also been Chairman of the Oireachtas All Party Committee on the Irish Language, and would seem to have the Gaeltacht side of his CV in order too. However, he may be more interested in the education portfolio. Certainly, Michael D. Higgins's poor election performance, despite five years in office which virtually doubled the Arts Council's grant (he took office in January 1993, and the Arts Council grant rose from £10.6 million in 1992 to this year's grant of £20.8 million), will not have convinced anyone that the arts portfolio is an advantageous one to have.
