THERE were few surprises, and no unpleasant ones, for the arts and heritage areas. Most organisations received the allocations announced in the Book of Estimates last December.
The biggest change was an extra £350,000 for the Irish Film Board, which had already been allocated a rise of £371,000 in the Estimates. The extra increase is for personnel training, an area in which the burgeoning Irish film industry has been very weak.
The board will pass on this funding to the National Film and TV Training Committee. "The board is happy to facilitate this. development," the chief executive, Mr Rod Stoneman, said last night.
However, the Audiovisual Federation of IBEC expressed concern that the Minister did not extend the Business Expansion Scheme to film development.
IBEC's Music Industry Group regretted his failure to eliminate elements in the BES for music which, it argued, hindered investment.
The Heritage Council receives an additional increase of £80,000, again ear-marked for a specific project. This is the Discovery Programme which carries out archaeological research work.
The allocation of £100,000 to the James Joyce Centre will come out of the Cultural Projects fund of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. The Minister responsible, Mr Higgins, in a statement last night particularly welcomed Mr Quinn's commitment "to deal with the major space constraints being suffered by the National Archives".
He said Mr Quinn's declaration that total spending on arts and culture had risen by 100 per cent since 1994 was "clear evidence of the ongoing commitment of the Government to these important facets of our national life".
The Arts Council's director Ms Patricia Quinn, last night welcomed the confirmation of the Arts Council's £2.4 million (13 per cent) increase, and recalled Mr Higgins's announcement last month that there would be similar percentage increases in the next two years.
The council's chairman, Dr Ciaran Benson, said last night the increase would enable the council "to address more seriously the plan's (Arts Plan 1995-97) provisions for the regions, and for public access to the arts".
The allocation of £100,000 to the James Joyce Centre will come out of the Cultural Projects fund of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht. The Minister responsible, Mr Higgins, in a statement last night particularly welcomed Mr Quinn's commitment "to deal with the major space constraints being suffered by the National Archives".
He said Mr Quinn's declaration that total spending on arts and culture had risen by 100 per cent since 1994 was "clear evidence of the ongoing commitment of the Government to these important facets of our national life".
The Arts Council's director Ms Patricia Quinn, last night welcomed the confirmation of the Arts Council's £2.4 million (13 per cent) increase, and recalled Mr Higgins's announcement last month that there would be similar percentage increases in the next two years.
The council's chairman, Dr Ciaran Benson, said last night the increase would enable the council to "address more seriously the plan's (Arts Plan 1995-97) provisions for the regions, and for public access to the arts".