Cork Arts Hustings
An Account of the Event by Nicki ffrench Davis (Civic Trust House)
Video of the Cork Arts Hustings event on Valentine's Day can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/user/CivicTrustHouse
Artist Pamela Myers posted her minutes from the meeting on her blog: www.pamelamyers.blogspot.com
Cork's arts community muscled in on the election action this week, joining a national effort to make the voice of the cultural sector heard. The National Campaign for the Arts held four hustings on Valentine's morning, in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Limerick, when election candidates presented their arts policies and priorities before facing questions and comments from an audience of artists and cultural workers.
The Cork hustings was held at the Crawford Gallery and chaired by poet Thomas McCarthy. In all eleven candidates attended and spoke, including representatives from Labour, Fine Gael, Sinn Fein, The Green Party, the Socialist Party and the Workers' Party. The only party not represented was Fianna Fáil who did not take up the invitation to take part. Independent candidates Fergus O'Rourke, Diarmaid Ó Cadhla and John Adams attended, taking the opportunity to hear the concerns of those working in a sector that has the potential to bring increasing economic and social returns to the country even in recessionary times.
The candidates' approaches to their three-minute speeches varied. Deirdre Clune for Fine Gael was keen to demonstrate her personal commitment to the arts, as were each of the Independent candidates and Ted Tynan for the Workers' Party. Dan Boyle for the Green Party spoke of his party's defence of the arts while in government, insisting that the cuts in December's budget had been minimised against those originally planned. Kathleen Lynch for Labour was the only candidate to speak of the arts' contribution to a vision for the future of Ireland as well as their social contribution. Mick Barry for the Socialist Party described how his own experience of theatre at the age of 14 was the turning point for him in establishing his political views and spoke eloquently on the unique educational potential of the arts.
One of the key objectives of the National Campaign for the Arts is the retention of a ministerial seat to represent the sector, and each of the party representatives indicated that they would ensure that the arts would have a seat at the cabinet table. All candidates indicated that they understood and appreciated the need for state funding in order for the arts to be accessible to society. Several new and positive proposals were made, such as Fine Gael's national policy for an Irish arts and film channel. The channel would broadcast on cable, digital tv and the internet, allowing broader access to arts events nationally and acting as a showcase for Irish arts internationally.
Fine Gael's proposal to make up for a lack of state funding by encouraging philanthropy through financial incentives for commercial sponsorship was attacked by Patrick Cotter of the Munster Literature Centre. Cotter insisted that sponsorship had made very minor contributions overall during the boomtime and could not be counted upon in recessionary times. The Green Party's optimism that creativity has a tendency to flourish in times of recession met an angry reaction from Pat Kiernan of Corcadorca. Kiernan was adamant that the arts cannot survive without support and that if that support does not come from the state it is left to artists to subsidise it themselves, the so-called ‘hidden subsidy' on which the sector is already over-reliant.
The value and potential of the arts to develop Ireland's tourism industry and international reputation were both widely recognised by the candidates. Labour's proposal to amalgamate Culture Ireland with the Arts Council was hotly contested by other candidates and the floor. Culture Ireland is the body responsible for the promotion of the arts internationally while the Arts Council is the state's arm's length agency for developing and promoting the arts internally. It was suggested that Culture Ireland does more for Ireland internationally than most embassies and is vital in combating the bad press the country has received of late due to our economic strife.
John Adams, the only artist among the candidates, kept his focus very local, venting frustration with the city's arts office, with administration costs in the arts sector and the management of the city's year as European Capital of Culture.
The main focus of the hustings was at a national and societal level however, and there was general agreement on the value of the arts to society for giving voice to issues that would otherwise remain hidden, and the value of fostering creativity in order to help society cope with challenge and change in the future. The event served as a valuable opportunity for dialogue and the National Campaign for the Arts intends to continue to develop this channel after the election.
Published on: 18 February, 2011
