We should continue investing the €50m each year in arts and heritage

The stalemate that has been thrown up by the recent General Election has challenged politicians of all hues to look afresh at how government-formation and policy making is done in this country.

And the campaign that preceded it also revealed growing frustration on the part of local communities at feeling disconnected and powerless, and being deprived of the opportunity to promote their own social and economic welfare It’s a phenomenon well understood by the Arts and Heritage Councils, both of which are involved in a range of grassroots programmes and initiatives to develop the social and economic potential of our heritage and cultural riches.

In the new political order likely to emerge from the current impasse, it is vital that that the significance of culture, including arts and heritage is acknowledged fully, and reflected in the provisions of the next Programme for Government. We now have an opportunity as politicians look to invent new ways of governing, to take a bold step and to properly fund a sector that says so much about who we are.