Four articles about the latest plans for The Arts Council of Ireland:

Government adopts new five-year plan in full
By Victoria White in The Irish Times


The Arts Council's new plan for the next five years has been adopted by Government, it was announced yesterday.

The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, went to the Arts Council's offices yesterday directly from a Cabinet meeting. She announced the Government's intention to implement the plan in full.

This will mean a rise in funding to the Arts Council from Euro 47,862,500 this year to Euro 79,865,000 in 2006. The council made clear that the plan could not be implemented if its chronic staff shortage was not addressed.

Here is the link to the page in the Irish Times with the 4 articles about the announcement:

This article is now only available to subscribers.

Arts Council of Ireland plans

<small>[ 10 December 2004, 01:07 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Irish Arts Council gains 16% funding increase
By Anthony Garvey for The Stage

The Irish Arts Council has won a 16% increase in state funding for next year, bringing its total annual budget to 61 million euro, compared to the current figure of 52.5 million euro.

The council had sought an allocation of 68 million euro, citing the current financial problems at the Abbey and a flood of grant applications from arts bodies and centres across the country. The 16% increase, announced by finance minister Brian Cowen, is more generous than many in the arts community had anticipated.

click for more