YOU'D be forgiven for thinking are the only sponsors of the just about daily summer arts festivals tip and down the country. However the Arts Council funds or at least partially funds a diverse lot of events from the Willie Clancy Summer School to the Drogheda Samba Festival. They must be feeling a little unnoticed because this week they hosted a big party to announce, where their £1 million festival fund gobs. As expected entertainment at the party was better than the average lunchtime bash with stilt walkers characters from Macnas and a wonderful mandolin band called Tallaghfornias.
The really big news that went unannounced at the party was the appointment of Mary Hyland as Film Officer. Her first official outing will be to the Galway Film Fleadh where she expects to be besieged by tyro film makers. Her new position is an add on job to her current post as Communications Officer at the Council.