Like it or not, arts funding not a priority

It is incongruous that the debate on Government funding of arts should intensify just as acute hospitals’ budgets are cut — again — by tens of millions.

However, those who have committed their lives to the arts or the cultural enrichment of their community might buck at that connection and argue that they are separate issues, each with pressing merits and imperatives.

Oh that they were — we all know, in our heart of hearts, that they are not. Health services, and everything else the Government funds, and the arts are all fighting for a slice of a much smaller cake than we have been used to. This reality is widely accepted but its implications may be less so.