THE CULTURAL and creative sector in Ireland is “very fragmented” and needs to pool its resources, according to the head of the Temple Bar Cultural Trust, Gráinne Millar.
“We’re very much a small sector and we stand to lose out to other greater economic interests . . . if we don’t come together in the form of coherent strategies to support our industries,” she said.
A public forum on helping to shape the future of the cultural and creative sectors, held yesterday, also discussed an EU Green Paper entitled Unlocking the Potential of Cultural and Creative Industriesto see how the industry can respond to the policy document.
Ms Millar said it needed to look at three areas: the impact of the digital agenda on the cultural and creative industries; the development of a culture of entrepreneurship; and how to pool resources in order to influence Brussels where 80 per cent of decisions shaping the creative industries are made.
Willie White, artistic director of the Project Arts Centre, said that arts and culture were a missing part of the programme for the “smart economy”. He said that, in the rush to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics, “there is a danger that we are neglecting other competencies that are required for our society and the economy to be successful and sustainable”.
Stuart McLaughlin, chief executive of Business to Arts, said the cultural and creative industries could play an important role in Ireland’s recovery. “There is something inherently important about the contribution that those creative and cultural industries make to the perception of Ireland.”