Artists launch campaign to highlight their contribution to the economy

ALL art is certainly political now with Irish luminaries coming out to highlight the value of the arts to Ireland’s economic and social recovery.

Novelist and journalist Colm Tóibín joined other well-known actors, comedians and singers in Dublin yesterday for the launch of the National Campaign for the Arts.

Mr Tóibín said the cutbacks in the arts proposed in the McCarthy Report and the Report of the Commission on Taxation would be counter-productive.

He said the new campaign group wanted to stress the important role artists play in the branding of Ireland abroad.

“We represent something in Ireland that is not broken and is crucial, not only to our society, but to our economy,” he said.

Mr Tóibín said Oscar- winning director, Neil Jordan and writers, Anne Enright and John Banville, had all helped promote the spirit of Ireland.

He said many actors in the RTÉ hit soap, Fair City, came to prominence through small theatre companies, now very vulnerable because of the downturn in the economy.

The group is calling for the retention of Culture Ireland, the agency for the promotion of the Irish arts worldwide, and the Irish Film Board, both of which face closure following the recent recommendations of the McCarthy Report.

It also calls for the maintenance of existing levels of funding for the Arts Council, as well as full representation at senior cabinet level.

Mr Tóibín also criticised the claim made by the Commission on Taxation that the withdrawal of tax breaks would not affect artistic endeavours.

When he looked for a role model as a young writer, he discovered that people like John Broderick, Kate O’Brien, John McGahern and Edna O’Brien were all living outside Ireland.

Mr Tóibín said the country’s artists only began to be appreciated by politicians when they travelled abroad.

Last weekend, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen, said creative ideas were the lifeblood of innovation and economic success and the cultural and creative sector was worth some €11.8 billion to the economy last year.

Chief executive of Theatre Forum, Tania Banotti, one of the main drivers of the National Campaign for the Arts, said they would be making their case at art events across the country.

“Everyone who is involved is becoming very politicised,” said Ms Banotti, who pointed out that their ‘grassroots’ constituency campaign was proving to be particularly effective.

They were beginning to build a list of artists in every county, and had started with Dublin Central, the constituency of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

“We discovered that there were 500 people in the arts registered to vote in Dublin Central and all have met their local TDs and members of the city council to make their case,” she said.