Arts Council to continue Abbey funding

The Arts Council has confirmed that it will continue to channel Government funds to the Abbey theatre.

Last month, the Abbey revealed losses of €1.85m for 2004 - twice what had been forecast.

There was speculation the Department of the Arts might fund the national threatre directly in order to monitor the state of its finances.

But the Arts Council announced today that this will not happen, because it feels such a step could interfere with the Abbey’s independence.

The Council made the announcement at the publication of their draft framework, entitled 'Partnership for the Arts'.

They used the occasion to highlight what they say is the need for more support for artists and arts organisations.

Chairperson of the Council, Olive Braiden has pointed to Government funding as a key challenge.

Ms Braden said that with current funding, arts groups can’t plan ahead effectively, which she feels needs to be addressed.

“We want to be able to offer them some comfort and support, so while we cannot give multi-annual funding, we hope to have multi-annual relationships with organisations and to give them support to be able to offer them guidance on how they can plan for more than one year,” Ms Braiden said.