Government has let down the arts, says actor Stephen Rea

Bafta award-winning Irish actor Stephen Rea says the Government has let down the arts.

“People are talking about having a strike when Joe Biden comes, an artistic strike, because the Government has let down the arts, and yet Ireland is being promoted as being this wonderful cultural country when in fact they’re [the Government] doing nothing about it,” said Rea, who has starred in Michael Collins and V for Vendetta, and was nominated for an Oscar for 1992’s The Crying Game.

“It’s just hypocritical. They don’t mind using pictures of great artists on calendars. We’re not good about the arts.