National Campaign for the Arts Organises Donegal Hustings

PRESS RELEASE
3 February 2016

The National Campaign for the Arts will be holding a hustings for candidates in the Donegal Constituency prior to the forthcoming General Election 2016 at 1pm on Wednesday February 10th at An Grianán Theatre Letterkenny. Letters of invite have been sent to all declared candidates for Donegal. Members of the public are also invited to attend and air their views.

The National Campaign for the Arts is a volunteer-led, grass roots movement that makes the case for the arts in Ireland. It seeks to ensure that the arts are on local and national government agendas and are recognised as a vital part of contemporary life in Ireland.  The convenors for the campaign in Donegal are Patricia McBride, Director of An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny and Conor Malone, General Manager of The Balor Arts Centre Ballybofey.

Says Patricia: “Although Ireland is one of the most renowned nations in the world with regards to its arts and culture, as a country we are at the bottom of the European League table for percentage of government investment in arts. To redress this, as an organisation we are asking candidates to commit to an investment of 0.3% of GDP over the lifetime of the next government – a commitment which would take us halfway to the European average.”

“There may be some people out there who don’t watch films or television; who don’t listen to music or read a book”, says Conor, “But I would imagine that they are in a very small minority. What we refer to as ‘The Arts’ has an importance and relevance to almost everybody and we would urge interested members of the public to attend this event.”

In addition to the aforementioned commitment to increase government investment in the arts other key points of the Campaign’s GE16 manifesto include:

  • The appointment of an expert panel of Artists/Cultural Managers to function as Policy and Strategy Advisors to the Minister and the Department
  • The implementation of tax efficiencies/strategies to stimulate corporate and philanthropic investment in the arts
  • The creation of a new arts fund from National Lottery income which is separate and distinct from Arts Council funding
  • To actively fund creative industries and arts activity through Local Enterprise Boards and LEADER
  • The shifting of government investment policy from STEM to STEAM (Science, Technology, engineering, ARTS, Maths)
  • The National Campaign for the Arts Donegal GE2016 hustings will take place next Wednesday February 10th at 1pm at An Grianán Theatre.

Admission is free and is open to all.

Time: 1pm
Date: Wednesday 10 February  2016
Venue: An Grianán Theatre Letterkenny

For further information contact Patricia Mc Bride (eMail) or Conor Malone (eMail)

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