International music performers benefiting from multimillion-euro concerts in Ireland should be forced to pay their tax liabilities here, amid concerns they are leaving the country without settling fees.

When Arts Minister Heather Humphreys said she couldn’t say who told her to appoint John McNulty to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art as it was a "Fine Gael matter", she revealed the very line of thinking that has landed her Government in the trouble it’s in.

IRISH music should be used to lift people out of the economic gloom and “engender a sense of wellbeing” around the country, according to chairman of the Oireachtas Arts Committee, Tom Kitt.

Several special events are planned at the National Concert Hall this year as it celebrates its 25th birthday.

THE State would not benefit if it abolished the controversial tax exemption scheme for artists, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.