A chara, – Fintan O’Toole (Weekend Review, December 3rd) exposes a central weakness in the Government’s approach to tackling financial cutbacks in the cultural sector. It is the absence of a vision and strategy that clearly articulates how the Government’s total investment of taxpayers’ money across the cultural and creative industries (arts, heritage, gaeltacht, libraries, craft, design, broadcasting etc) will lead to greater public value and enhanced social and economic prosperity in the future.
Without such a strategy, important decisions that have to be taken now are in danger of destroying any public value that has taken decades to create. It also shows how little understanding exists at a Government level of a sector that, internationally, is growing at a faster pace than the rest of the economy.
I have some professional and personal experience that informs my views on this. Earlier this year I was appointed by the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht to the EU expert group on cultural and creative industries. It has been extraordinary to see how European member states are designing new inter-departmental cultural strategies that position culture, heritage and the creative industries as the foundation of a new creative economy.
Looking beyond Europe, the federal government of Australia recently announced plans to introduce a national cultural policy that will radically change Australia’s creative landscape over a ten year timeframe. It will be designed to create a more enlightened, cohesive and creative citizenry.
It is lamentable that a country that appears to take so much pride in its international reputation for culture, creativity and imagination is to unable or unwilling to apply those very same qualities to produce a world-class vision for the cultural and creative industries that is worthy of its own citizens. – Yours, etc,