Labour Party Spokesperson on Arts, Sport and Tourism Mary Upton TD has welcomed the publication of a report commissioned by the Arts Council which has highlighted the economic value of the Arts to the economy.
Deputy Upton said: “I welcome the publication of this report carried out on behalf of the Arts Council into the economic value of the Arts. This report highlights that the arts sector is worth €782 million a year to the economy and employs 26,519 people. At a time when all Government spending is under review in the wake of the McCarthy Report and in anticipation of the Budget this report clearly sets out the importance of this sector to the economy.
“Unfortunately the Arts, together with a number of other areas such as Sport and Development Aid, is seen as an easy target. Arts funding has suffered two consecutive hits in the two budgets in the last year. With this report we can finally show that the Arts sector is a huge boost to the economy and that cutting funding to Arts organisations will lead to a reduction in spending and employment in the economy. But a nation is more than its Gross Domestic Product or its economy; the Arts nurture the spiritual and cultural elements of society. If we turn off the tap of state support it will take years to recover.
“If we want to grow our way out of this banking and housing depression then we need to continue to support those industries that are providing jobs and money in the economy. This report could hardly have come at a better time as it shows the economic and employment case for keeping supporting and sustaining the Arts and combined with the social and cultural importance of the arts I believe the Government can no longer countenance further disproportionate cuts in this sector.”
Irish Times article on report
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1105/1224258104921.html
Link to report on Theatre Forum’s website
http://www.theatreforumireland.com/index.php/tf/Notice-Board/Arts-are-big-contributor-to-economy-can-drive-new-jobs
Economic Impact of the Cultural Sector – a report by DKM Economic Consultants
4th September 2009
Contribution to GNP & Employment
• The cultural and creative sectors are a major sector of the economy, in terms of both output and of employment.
• Taking into account economic multipliers, the Value Added dependent on the cultural and creative sectors in 2008 was
€11.8 billion or 7.6% of total GNP.
• Employment dependent on the cultural and creative sectors combined in 2008 was 170,000 or 8.7% of total employment in
the economy.
Culture-Related Tourism
• Cultural tourism is a key element of Ireland’s tourism industry. The list of top visitor attractions is dominated by natural and
built heritage, and in addition, festivals, musical and other events attract major numbers of attendees.
• Some 3.53 million overseas visitors engaged in cultural/historical visits while in Ireland in 2008, 43% of total visitors.
• These visitors spent €2.3 billion in Ireland, 56% of total overseas visitor spend in Ireland.
• Thus tourists who engage in cultural pursuits while in Ireland are higher than average spenders.
• A total of €3.03 billion, or 2% of GNP is at least partly dependent on overseas cultural tourism. Domestic cultural tourism would add significantly to this.
• A total of 73,000 jobs are dependent on cultural tourism, 3.4% of the total workforce.
• There is a very significant showcase impact from Irish culture, which raises the profile of the country and has a substantial
economic benefit, most directly on tourism.
Regional Aspects of the Cultural Sector
• There is a strong regional aspect to the cultural sector, as cultural activity is strongly rooted in locality. Remoteness from
larger metropolitan areas is less of a disadvantage than in some other sectors, and in some cases is an enhancing factor.
• This is most obvious in the area of events and festivals and in the related cultural tourism.
• Examination of the most popular visitor attractions and events in Ireland in recent years point to a range of locations around the country, in particular along the western seaboard.
Exchequer Impacts of the Sector
• Total Exchequer expenditure on the cultural sector in 2008 was €330 million.
• Against this, direct Exchequer revenue from the cultural and creative sectors in 2008 was approximately €1 billion. Taking into account the economic multiplier effects the figure rises to €4.1 billion.
• In addition, cultural tourism directly generates direct revenue of €0.3 billion, which when the multiplier effects are included rise to €1.1 billion.
• Expenditure by the Irish Exchequer on the cultural sector is less than the average for European countries, and as a percentage of GDP/GNP is the fourth lowest among a range of western European countries.
The Cultural Sector and the Smart Economy
• The European commission has ranked Ireland 13th out of 29 European countries in terms of turnover in creative industries.
• The growth rate of the Creative sector in Ireland has been well above the European average, indicating the importance of
Creative Industries for overall Irish economic performance.
• The new enterprise model for the Irish economy – articulated in Building Ireland’s Smart Economy – recognises the vital
importance of the cultural and creative sectors, and places strong emphasis on creativity, the accumulation of knowledge,
and the development of ideas and designs as well as the application of technology.
Future Prospects for the Sector
• The cultural & creative sector is globally one of the fastest growing, representing 7% of global GDP and growing at 10% per annum.
• Likewise, cultural tourism is expected to experience growth of 15% per annum going forward.
• This compares with expected growth in the overall economy in the next decade of 4.3%; growth in the culture-related sectors is expected to be two to three times the average for the overall economy.
• Thus the culture-related sectors will be one of the key growth areas, which Ireland must tap into for economic and employment opportunities over the next decade, it is to recover from the current severe recession.
• Furthermore, on a global scale the culture-related sectors are expected to be a significantly greater part of the international economy in the future, and Ireland must make its presence felt in these sectors if the overall economy is to be competitive leader in the future.
• Future Government decisions regarding funding of the sector need to be taken with this context in mind.
19 October 2009
RECRUITMENT
A huge thanks to everyone who is participating in the ongoing recruitment drive. We have increased the number in the group by over 60 since last Wednesday. Keep em coming! If each person in the group gets one person to join we double our numbers.
They can join on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=94527064278&ref=ts
or by mailing their name to dublinsouthcentralartsworkers@gmail.com
MEETING TDs
We met with Mary Upton (Lab) and Catherine Byrne (FG). Both listened to our case and were supportive of our cause.
Catherine Byrne (FG) was particularly interested in how the Arts interact with and directly benefit the area. So if you are aware of or involved in Arts activities in the Constituency you might drop her a line at catherine.byrne@oireachtas.ie.
Mary Upton came along to The Dead School, a play I was in during the Theatre Festival and she seemed to appreciate that. So again, if you fancied inviting Mary or indeed any of the TDs or councillors along to your gallery/opening/workshop/performance etc etc it won’t do the campaign any harm. Mary is at mary.upton@oireachtas.ie.
We are meeting Sean Ardagh (FF) and Aengus Ó Snodaigh (SF) separately this Wednesday. And we are confident of tracking down Michael Mulcahy (FF) very soon too.
MEETING COUNCILLORS
These are ongoing with details to follow.
THE NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE ARTS
Check out
http://www.ncfa.ie/index.php/about/
and
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-National-Campaign-For-The-Arts/135604445372?ref=ts
for the great work being done by the National Campaign For The Arts.
If you feel there is something else we can all be doing please let us know. In the meantime, keep the members comings.
The Commission on Taxation has reported. The document can be found here
The advice on the Artists’ Exemption is on page 27:
8.98 The artist’s exemption should be discontinued; consideration should be given to introducing income averaging in the taxation of income from creative work.
Please contact your elected representatives and the media and let them know how you feel about this.
This map is a work in progress – please email us at dublinsouthcentralartsworkers@gmail.com if you would like to contribute to it.
Brian Cowen speech in USA where he says:
“We have to be prepared to invest in our cultural infrastructure here, as we do in Ireland.
As a first step, I am asking Culture Ireland with the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism and the Department of Foreign Affairs, to prepare a series of high profile cultural events in this country in 2011 to take advantage of recovery.”
MORE TO FOLLOW
Tóibín says proposed arts cuts are cynical – Colm Tóibín, Irish Times 11 August 2009
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0811/1224252369901.html
Putting A price on culture – Peter Sirr, Irish Times 11 August 2009:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/0811/1224252358149.html
Response to Peter Sirr and Colm Toibin articles in Irish Times (3rd letter and 2nd letters down respectively):
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2009/0819/1224252863152.html
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2009/0815/1224252584849.html
Disquiet on the Western Front – Garry Hynes speaks out, Irish Times 28 July 2009:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/features/2009/0728/1224251483330.html
Figuring on the real economic impact – Deirdre Falvey, Artscape, Irish Times 9 May 2009
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2009/0509/1224246178478.html
Business2Arts report on:
Private Investment in Arts & Culture Survey Report
The Social, Economic and Fiscal Status of Visuals Artists in Ireland
Study of the Socio-Economic Conditions of Theatre Practitioners in Ireland – Hibernian Consulting 2005
http://www.hibernianconsulting.ie/docs/Socio-Economic_Conditions_of_Theatre_Practitioners.pdf
Research into living and working conditions of Artists in Ireland (link to Arts Council newsletter)
http://newsletter.artscouncil.ie/1y1suoxqypx-1v0pxfsw35?email=true
Building Ireland’s SMART Economy
http://193.178.1.117/attached_files/Pdf%20files/Building%20Ireland’s%20Smart%20Economy.pdf
Link to Canada Arts Council – Government investment in Arts yields significant results
http://www.canadacouncil.ca/aboutus/Promotion/qn127306575550156250.htm
The Right to Art:
http://www.culturalrights.net/descargas/drets_culturals127.pdf
The Internationa Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies Website
Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe
http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/index.php
Eurostat Pocketbooks – Cultural Statistics 2007 edition:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-77-07-296/EN/KS-77-07-296-EN.PDF
Mc Carthy Report parts 1 & 2:
http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/pressreleases/2009/bl100vol1.pdf
http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/pressreleases/2009/bl100vol2.pdf
Meeting of Dublin South Central Arts Workers Constituency Group (the “Group”)
held at Mill Street Studios on 20 August 2009
Chairman: Peter Daly
Present: List available
The Chairman welcomed those present and explained that the meeting would be brief, concise and would work towards an action plan.
He thanked Hazel at Mill Street Studios for the use of the Gallery space for the meeting.
(1) A very brief history of the Irish Arts Workers initiative
The Chairman explained that at this year’s Theatre Forum Conference, those present were told that 2.5% of the country’s working population are employed in the Creative Industries; this figure coming from a recent Eurostat handbook on Cultural statistics1. As there are around 86,000 voters in the Dublin South Central Constituency, this would suggest that there are over 2,000 people working in the Creative Industries in this constituency.
(A discussion followed in which it was noted that the figure of 2.5% is arrived at by taking a wide definition of the term ‘Creative Industries’ and that a smaller number might be arrived at by totaling the people directly affected by proposed cuts. It was agreed the Group would make an attempt in the future to arrive at a figure of our own.)
At the Conference’s closing session, writer Gavin Kostick made a suggestion that groups should be set up in each Constituency representing people working in the Arts. The Chairman told the meeting that there are now 39 groups set up with over 2,500 members in total.
(2) Outline of current position
The Chairman outlined the current position as follows:
- The McCarthy report, (An Bord Snip Nua report)2 has recommended:
- Consideration should be given to the discontinuation of the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism as a Department in its own right,
- A cut of €6.1m to the Arts Council,
- The discontinuation of Culture Ireland (€4.6m),
- The transfer of the Irish Film Board’s functions to Enterprise Ireland (€3.0),
- The discontinuation of allocation for cultural projects (€5.3m),
- A cut of €17.3m in capital spending.
- A possible cut in funding to Dublin City Council, which in turn could mean possible cuts in Arts funding at local level.
- The possible discontinuation of the role of City Arts Officer in Dublin City Council.
- The Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland have jointly commissioned Hibernian Consulting to conduct detailed and extensive research into artists’ living and working conditions on an all island basis. The research will take place during the remainder of 2009 with anticipated completion and publication in 2010.
- The existence of a Nationwide campaign, spearheaded by Arts Organisations with membership was noted. A member at the meeting is part of this Campaign and it is hoped that the two Campaigns will be in positions to assist one another.
- Key dates over the coming months were discussed including when Budget Submissions are made by Departments and also an upcoming Theatre Forum meeting with an Oireachtas Sub Committee.
- It was noted that there is a real possibility of a General Election in the coming period.
- It was noted that the group should avoid the campaign being sidelined during the height of the upcoming Lisbon campaign and to set key dates away from this activity.
(3) Campaign Goals
The Group’s campaign goals were agreed as follows:
- First and foremost, to press home the importance of the Arts to society.
- To lobby against the discontinuation of The Department of Arts.
- To lobby against the funding cuts as recommended by The McCarthy Report.
- To lobby against a discontinuation of Culture Ireland.
- To lobby against the transfer of the Irish Film Board’s functions to Enterprise Ireland.
- To lobby against any cuts at local government level.
- To lobby against the possible discontinuation of the role of City Arts Officer.
(4) Plan of Action (THOSE RESPONSIBLE IN BRACKETS)
RECRUITMENT (ALL MEMBERS IN THE GROUP)
Recruitment of new members was agreed to be the immediate focus for all members of the Group.
Eligibility for membership of the Group should be self-defined: i.e. if an individual works wholly or partly in the Arts, or they consider themselves an Artist, they should be encouraged to join the Group.
It was also noted that the group is theatre-heavy at present and architects, dancers, visual artists, writers, film makers, musicians etc should be encouraged to become members.
All members should ensure that they are registered to vote.
It was noted that numbers for some other Constituency groups were low and an effort should be made to encourage membership in these groups.
Members can join either by sending an email to dublinsouthcentralartsworkers@gmail.com or by joining the facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=94527064278&ref=ts.
CROSS CONSTITUENCY MEETING OF COUNCILLORS (SUB COMMITTEE)
It was agreed that a public meeting with councilors should be held in the near future.
As Theatre Forum are organising a reception and tickets to the gala opening of the Dublin Theatre Festival for all members of Dublin City Council on Sept 24th, it was agreed that this meeting should take place before then.
A sub committee, including a member from the Dublin Central Constituency, was formed to organise this meeting for a date before September 24th.
INITITIAL CONTACT WITH TDs (ONE MEMBER)
One member agreed to email the TDs in the Constituency to inform them of the Group.
BE VOCAL, GET THE MESSAGE OUT (ALL MEMBERS)
Members were encouraged to write to the Irish Times and other papers in response to relevant newspapers articles and further developments. There was a feeling that we have not been vocal enough in this area and those present agreed to address this.
It was also agreed that anyone involved with the Dublin Fringe Festival, Dublin Theatre Festival and similar future events should endeavour to mention the Group and campaign in programmes/literature where possible. (The concise message discussed below could be used).
Prepaid postcards were also discussed as a possible means of promotion later in the campaign.
CENTRAL MESSAGE (SUB COMMITTEE)
It was agreed that the Group message should be POSITIVE.
The group agreed that both similar terminology and a central message should be agreed with all groups countrywide.
The group agreed that the primary message should be the importance of the Arts to society and the economic argument, strong though it may be, should be secondary to this.
A sub committee was appointed to draft a concise central message for use by the group in future work.
SMART ECONOMY (ALL MEMBERS)
It was agreed to press home the importance of the Arts to the development of the SMART ECONOMY.
It was noted that page 80 of the document “Building Ireland’s Smart Economy” 3, published by the Department of the Taoiseach contains the following statement:
“The arts, cultural and creative industries are key and primary economic contributors. They consist of real businesses, enduring employers, differentiators of us as a cultural and tourist destination.”
RESOURCE MATERIAL ON THE BLOG (ALL MEMBERS)
It was agreed that it would be useful to post to the Blog the various documents, reports, speeches etc which were mentioned during the meeting.
www.dublinsouthcentralarts.wordpress.com.
Individual members agreed to forward relevant materials to the Chairman for him to post to the Blog.
All members were encouraged to post to the Blog.
NATIONWIDE ONLINE PETITION (SUB COMMITTEE)
It was agreed to set up an online petition to give the opportunity for people outside the Group to support the Campaign’s goals.
All members will then encourage friends, families and the many other interested parties to sign this online petition.
CULTURAL MAP OF THE CONSTITUENCY (ALL MEMBERS)
It was agreed that a cultural map of the Constituency would be a very useful tool in highlighting the abundance and therefore importance of Arts Organisations and Activities in the area.
The Chairman is to contact the group member who set up the Blog (not present) to discuss the possibility that he could set up this Cultural Map.
In the meantime all members to post the names and addresses of Arts Organisations and Activities to the relevant post on the Blog www.dublinsouthcentralarts.wordpress.com.
MEDIA IN THE CONSTITUENCY (ALL MEMBERS)
It was agreed that it would be useful to have a list of all media based in and serving the area.
The Chairman is to set up a Blog post for this purpose allowing members to list same.
Furthermore, one member agreed to locate a media directory, which would have listings for media organisations in Dublin South Central.
FURTHER INFORMATION GATHERING (ONE MEMBER)
The extent of Dublin City Council Arts funding cuts was unclear at the moment.
One member agreed to contact the City Arts Officer to ascertain the extent of the proposed cuts.
This member is also to confirm the status of the position of City Arts Officer in view of the imminent retirement of the current officer.
(5) Vote for agreement
Those present agreed to carry out the above action plan
(6) AOB
There was no other business.
The Chairman thanked those present for their contributions and the meeting ended.
1 http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-77-07-296/EN/KS-77-07-296-EN.PDF
2 http://www.finance.gov.ie/documents/pressreleases/2009/bl100vol1.pdf
3 http://193.178.1.117/attached_files/Pdf%20files/Building%20Ireland’s%20Smart%20Economy.pdf
Fantastic turnout at the exciting and proactive meeting last night (21 August 2009). The first of many.
Minutes and action plan to follow.
Very briefly we agreed:
- A BIG recruitment drive for the group (on facebook OR email to dublinsouthcentralartsworkers@gmail.com) (EVERYONE IN THE GROUP TO GET INVOLVED*)
- Wording of a concise Mission Statement (for want of a better phrase) for the Group. (SUB COMMITTEE WORKING ON THIS)
- An online petition that everyone (not just arts workers) can sign (SUB COMMITTEE).
- Individual letter to The Irish Times and elsewhere voicing our opinions (EVERYONE).
- A public meeting with our Councillors to happen in the next month (SUB COMMITTEE).
- Posting of all resource materials, publications, speeches, etc on the blog page www.dublinsouthcentralarts.wordpress.com (ANYONE WITH ACCESS TO THE BLOG**)
- an email to our TDs (ONE MEMBER)
- Drop in to our councillors clinics (EVERYONE)
- Cultural Map on blog (ONE MEMBER TO SET UP, EVERYONE TO UPDATE)
- Listing of all Media serving Dublin South Central media (ONE MEMBER TO SET UP, EVERYONE TO POST TO)
- Film Board email (ME TO FORWARD TO GROUP, EVERYONE TO FORWARD)
I may have missed a couple of points but we will pick them up from the minutes.
In the meantime, lets get started on the recruitment drive.
Thanks and well done all!
Peter
* I can see that the numbers in the group have started to go up already this morning so well done recruiters.
** (if you would like access to post to the blog please contact me directly – the more people we have posting regularly, the more alive the blog will be).
Speaking to ITI at the recent meeting, the Head of Theatre, David Parnell said: “while the Arts Council will be doing everything in its power to argue against any proposed reductions in arts spending, nevertheless we have a responsibility to alert organisations and their boards to the possibility that their funding will be drastically reduced next year. It is not possible at this stage to say with certainty who will be cut or by how much, as this will depend on the final funding allocation made available by government, and also on the strategic approaches to each art form which the Council decides to adopt.”
The Arts Council requested that ITI communicate with theatre organisations, via our e-zine, the seriousness of the likely changes in the funding environment for 2010. It is important for organisations and artists to know that the recommended reduction by An Bord Snip Nua of €6.1 million in the Arts Council’s budget allocation for 2010 is not the entirety of the probable cut. In addition to the Bord Snip recommendation, it seems the Council’s budget in 2010 will be down by an additional €6.9 million on this year due to commitments made in 2009 against 2010’s budget (this is because the Council had made most of its funding allocations for 2009 and was then cut by government to the tune of €2.35m). Furthermore, the Arts Council carried some revenue reserves into 2009 that will not be available to it in 2010. Therefore the reality is that prior to confirmation of the actual budget allocation in December, it is possible that the Council’s budget could be reduced by 17% in 2010, if not more.
On this basis, organisations and artists applying for grant aid for 2010 under the various schemes (RFO, Annual Funding or Annual Programming) are asked by the Arts Council to be realistic and acknowledge that cuts at an average of 20% are probable and it is inevitable that some organisations will absorb cuts greater than this and some may receive no funding at all for 2010.
The Arts Council will not be notified of its 2010 budget allocation until December and funding decisions will be notified to applicants in mid/late January.
Irish Theatre Institute believes that over the coming months the arts sector needs to campaign to safeguard arts funding and ensure that the arts are allowed to continue making an invaluable contribution to the social and economic well being of the country. We urge everyone to play their part to resist the dismantling of the arts and cultural sectors.
See links:
Arts Council www.artscouncil.ie
McCarthy report:
Vol I: www.iua.ie/documents/BordSnipvol1.pdf
Vol II: www.iua.ie/documents/BordSnipvol2.pdf
Theatre Forum www.theatreforumireland.com
Gavin Kostick Facebook Campaign http://www.theatreforumireland.com/index.php/tf/Notice-Board/Facebook-groups-an-update
via: http://www.irishtheatreinstitute.com/index_2_ezine3.html
In anticipation of the group agreeing that a Cultural Map of the Dublin South Central Constituency is a very worthwhile thing to do, let get starting on listing the various Arts Organisations and Activities in the Area.
Please post in the comments below the Arts Organisations and Activities that you are aware of in the constituency. If you know the street name, post this too.
Although this isn’t the most efficient way to do this, it can serve as a way to get people thinking about what is going on in the area.
Peter
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