No break for Cowen

ArtScape: Those plagued by ever-increasing volumes of e-mail piling into their inboxes might feel a teeny bit of pity for Minister for Finance Brian Cowen.

Because the artists' tax exemption has been lumped in with a load of other tax reliefs for "examination", he is due to receive a bunch of e-mail "postcards" as part of the Arts Council's campaign in favour of the tax break's retention. Those who support this campaign are urged to post "cards" to Cowen electronically by following the instructions on the www.artscouncil.ie homepage.

The campaign was launched on Thursday, along with a booklet of testimonials by 10 high-profile artists, explaining the role the exemption has played in their lives. At the Arts Council launch were novelist Anne Enright, composer Seoirse Bodley and playwright Conor McPherson; the others profiled are composer Gerald Barry, musician Paul Brady, playwrights Marina Carr and Billy Roche, sculptor Maud Cotter, and visual artists Brian Maguire and Alice Maher.

In the testimonials, they write about the practicalities of forging a career in the arts, and about how the exemption subsidises leaner years. Speaking at the launch, playwright Conor McPherson said "I don't think many artists who write music or literature are doing it for the money, and they don't get well paid. I might spend two years writing a play and get seven or eight thousand for it." If it's very successful - McPherson's The Weir was at the Royal Court in London in 1997 and had a Broadway run - the financial rewards are greater, but he pointed out that such commercial success is rare, "though I'd hope for it again". "When you hit the sudden commercial thing - it's not intentional, it is not in the control of the artist" and it subsidises leaner years. He said that artists would still create work if they had to pay tax on the earnings, "though the art may suffer". McPherson mentioned also how unfair it was that interpretive artists, such as actors, directors and designers, could not apply for the exemption. He pointed out that well-known actors, even when employed at top theatres, might make only €380 a week, and receive no pension or sick pay.

Enright said, "The natural tendency of the Irish artist is to exile. The blood-letting was stopped by the exemption." Artists stayed when everyone else left the country. It seemed unfair "now that everyone else is making more money to take it off the poor artists."

Maher's testimonial says her earnings were consistently below the minimum wage, while Billy Roche took three years to write the script for Trojan Eddie which meant the amount he made was not substantial. Paul Brady talked about having a young family and a mortgage in the 1980s, and how the income from songwriting was crucial in keeping him going.The booklet is part of research done by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers for the Arts Council and will be sent to Oireachtas members, the Revenue, the Department of Finance and other decision-makers.

To mark the centenary of his birth and the 10th anniversary of his death, admirers of the poet and philosopher Brian Coffey are hosting a symposium devoted to his work in Trinity College, Dublin next Friday and Saturday.

Coffey, a friend of Samuel Beckett and Denis Devlin, has become a key influence on Ireland's modernist movement. The symposium will include readings of Coffey's work by poets who knew him and some who were influenced by his writing.

Coffey's close friend, the poet and author Augustus Young will give the opening address on the Friday evening. On Saturday, talks on Coffey's work will be given by leading Irish and British scholars and poets. There will also be discussions and a screening of a film on Coffey by documentary film-maker Sean Ó Mordha.

The guest of honour for the weekend will be John Coffey, son of Brian Coffey, who will provide reflections on being a poet's son. Other participants will include Gerald Dawe, Harry Gilonis, Trevor Joyce, Billy Mills, Maurice Scully, Geoffrey Squires, and Catherine Walsh, Andrew Crozier and Aengus Woods.

Talks will range from "The Aesthetics of Brian Coffey and David Jones" to "How to Become Modern". Coffey studied in Paris in the 1930s, and early publications include Poems, which was co-authored by Denis Devlin and Third Person. He also spent a period in the US where he was professor of philosophy at the University of St Louis, Missouri. He later returned to Britain where he taught mathematics and science until his retirement.

Coffey was for many years little known in Ireland until the publication in 1972 of his Selected Poems by New Writers' Press. Dedalus later published his collected works, Poems and Versions, in 1990.

For more information contact aengus_woods@yahoo.com or philip.coleman@tcd.ie or see http://www.tcd.ie/info/conferences/

It is striking how many times the late Jerome Hynes has been mentioned at events and in speeches over the past few weeks. Though it's still hard to believe that the Wexford Festival Opera chief executive and Arts Council deputy chairman has died, tomorrow the festival is inviting people to celebrate his life and work at a service of thanksgiving in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Rowe Street, Wexford, at 3pm. The celebration will include reflections by David Agler, Luigi Ferrari, Virginia Kerr, Olive Braiden, Fiach Mac Conghail and Paul Hennessy, as well as music from soloists, the festival chorus and orchestra, members of Altan, the Prague Chamber Choir, and many others.

The Hynes and Quinn families, together with Druid Theatre, will unite in a celebration of his life and work at his month's mind Mass next Sunday, October 23rd, at 4pm in St Joseph's Church, Bushypark, Galway. Tá fáilte roimh cách.

Michael Flatley's Hollywood-isation of Irish history got audiences going on its US tour, but critical reaction was mixed: "Along with Flatley's unmistakable talent, his almost childlike glee in putting on a show accounts for much of his appeal," said New Jersey's Star-Ledger.

"Leather pants, chesty blondes, flag-waving bravado - Celtic Tiger is almost entirely a vehicle for Michael Flatley's ego. Depending on your feelings toward Mr Flatley, the Lord of the Dance, this is very good or very bad," said the New York Times. "Last night's fairies-and-sprites number - complete with pollinating insects - was like a bad Disneyland attraction. At one point a singing angel serenaded a field of dead soldiers back to life while suspended in the air. Ugh," wrote the Ottawa Sun.

Talk of Celtic Tiger brings to mind Celtic Bitch, the spoof Riverdance-style show and its "knee-f***ed" dancer, Colin Dunne, which feature in The Bull, the Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre production in the Dublin Theatre Festival. The show, devised by Michael Keegan-Dolan and the company, must have been groaning from the weight of expectation following the almost universal delight with its Giselle two years ago. Tickets couldn't be had for love nor money this week for The Bull, which runs to 120 minutes without interval (although the festival programme says it is 75 minutes long). It's one of those creations that has evoked hugely divergent opinions. Some people loved it, and leapt to their feet for ovations. Others looked around at the rest of the audience and wondered if they had been at the same show, and whether the emperor was indeed wearing no clothes.

It may appear that news of Abbey appointments is dribbling though almost daily, but in fact last week's ministerial appointments (of Tom Hickey and Suzanne Kelly to the Abbey board) are the last for a while. The three-person selection committee that will choose the remaining eight members of the new board is now in place, and is composed of ministerial appointees: Bryan McMahon , Olive Braiden and John Fairley.

Meanwhile, what about the audit on the theatre's finances for the first six months of the year? Apparently it has been completed but the theatre has not yet revealed its contents. The recently appointed director of finance and administration and the new financial controller are discussing the audit's findings, as well as setting up new budgeting and reporting systems.

Meanwhile the theatre is upbeat. Hamlet has almost sold out, and following Lennox Robinson's Drama at Inish this month, the focus will turn to two pieces of new work for 2006: Homeland, a new Paul Mercier play opening at the Abbey in January, and The Grown-ups, by Nicholas Kelly, at the Peacock in February.