Reports that there is blood on the floor at the Arts Council's Merrion Square headquarters are nothing new. Making policy for the arts is, almost by definition, a passionate and fractious affair.
There are signs, however, that the council, and the arts sector generally, are facing new problems generated by an unfamiliar degree of plenty and success. More disturbingly, there are suggestions by some - strongly denied by management - that the work of the Council could be more productive. Some council members, some council staff, and a number of arts organisations and artists, appear to be alienated from the organisation's administrative style - suggesting that more than the inevitable personality clashes are involved. Yesterday, Local Authority Arts Officers said they had "lost confidence" in the council's commitment to local arts development.
It has long been taken for granted that artists make a major contribution to self-knowledge, self-esteem and Ireland's international profile. But it has only recently been accepted that the cultural sector requires substantial public and private investment, professional planning and management. For many years the major problem of the Arts Council could be summed up in a single word: underfunding. The advent of Mr Michael D. Higgins as the first Minister for Arts and Culture and the consequent adoption of an Arts Plan by Government started to put arts funding and management on a proper footing. The next Minister, Ms Sile de Valera, persuaded her government to come up with the full level of funding required.
In its new Arts Plan, the council has made a convincing case that this increase in funding does not imply only quantitative changes; it also requires a radical shift in how the organisation relates to arts organisations and individual artists. Instead of annually doling out inadequate subsidies on the basis of established merit, while striving to implement worthy policies on increased social and regional access to the arts on a shoestring, the council now faces the exciting challenge of dedicating substantial funds to truly innovative projects. Fears have been expressed, however, that the council may be exercising this power in a top-down manner.
The burden of administering increased funds, coupled with the changes in how the council conceives its role, would cause stress in any organisation. Given that the Arts Council is shackled by public-service limits on hiring new staff, that strain is evidently particularly painful.
The balance of power between board and chief executive, and between chief executive and staff, will always be a shifting one. Ms De Valera's surprise review of arts legislation may have some bearing on the issue in the medium term, and seems to indicate support for the chief executive and chairman.
In the meantime, common sense, and the application of basic people skills by all concerned would probably go a long way towards resolving the current crisis. It would be unforgivable for the council to stall under the stresses of prosperity, when it has coped so long and so heroically with the problems of poverty.