The Arts Council has announced an increase in funding for arts organisations for the year 2004. Funding will increase by €6.6 million from €34.1 million in 2003 to €40.7 million in 2004, an increase of 19 per cent.
The Council made its funding decisions for 2004 in response to applications received from 375 arts organisations and 32 local authorities.
More than €4 million has been allocated in increased expenditure on direct support to artists and grants to artistic production and presentation. The value of funding to members of Aosdána has been increased by 10% to €1.5 million, and other spending on artists' programmes has been increased by 10% to €3.2 million, a total of €4.7 million.
Grants to arts production companies have been increased by 21%, and in many cases this will result in a restoration of, or improvement on 2002 levels, as the Council consolidates funding relationships with key artistic producers in theatre, music, opera and dance.
Ms Olive Braiden, chair of the Council, said the priority this year had been to pass all increased funding from Government directly to artists and arts organisations. "We hope that the grants given to artists and organisations spread the length and breadth of the country will drive a burst of new cultural interest and activities," she said.
Funding for 69 arts venues has increased from €12.2 million in 2003 to €13.8 million in 2004. This includes 26 theatres, 13 galleries and 30 multi-disciplinary spaces promoting dance, film, literature, music, opera, traditional arts, theatre and visual arts.
Funding is also provided towards the artistic programme costs of 32 local authorities - totalling €1.9 million.
A number of major international festivals will see their funding restored to, or increased on, the 2002 level, with funding to festivals and events seeing an increase of almost 23% from €4.1 million to €5.2 million.
The Arts Council also provides direct and indirect grant supports to individual artists, and it funds many other small arts organisations and once-off projects through peer-assessed schemes throughout the course of the year.
In February, the Arts Council will publish its Action Plan for 2004. The Council will also undertake a comprehensive mid-term review of the five-year Plan - the strategic framework governing all of its work, and the results of that review will feed into the grants process in 2004/5.