New Government should invest in culture as it will provide much bigger return

With news that the Cork Film Festival is shy €200,000 in funding despite the €2.5m it pulls in for the local economy, Clodagh Finn wonders if arts is unwisely being pushed to one side by the incoming government

THE prize for most cumbersome departmental initials has to go to Heather Humphreys who now presides over a behemoth called RDRAAG. Or might we just say Red Rag for ease of pronunciation?

Certainly the mish-mash ministry that brings together — hold your breath now — Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht has been something of a red rag to those of us who happen to think that culture is not an optional extra, but a vital thing that helps us to live life in colour.