6. Cultural participation and consumption
Ireland
Last update: November, 2020
Access and participation in art and culture for all citizens in Ireland is evident as a strategic goal and objective across many levels — from national cultural policy frameworks and semi state cultural agencies’ strategies and mission statements to local authority levels. All aim to affirm the right of every citizen to access and participate in cultural life. Museums and galleries in Ireland are free of charge for all to attend. But even though the entry may be free, there remain many barriers. Participation in the arts in Ireland varies markedly according to a number of factors, including educational level, socio-economic status, geographical area, and age. This variation is associated with a range of inhibitors such as economic costs, poor transport, lack of literacy, and social and psychological barriers.
Cultural organisations in Ireland have developed programmes to attempt to diversify and expand their audience as well as outreach programmes focused on art and cultural participatory engagement. The Education and Outreach Policy of the National Council of Cultural Institutions has developed a stronger focus on cultural inclusion.
Although ‘access’ and ‘participation’ are not explicitly referenced within the Arts Act (2003), the described functions of the Arts Council — including the stimulation of the public interest in the arts — are clearly linked to these subjects. There is explicit reference made at strategy level within the Arts Council and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The Making Great Art Work: Leading the Development of the Arts in Ireland, Arts Council Strategy 2016-2022 states in its vision that “the centrality of the arts to Irish will have been strengthened by” amongst other actions “the depth and breadth of people’s engagement with the arts as a valued feature of their lives.” Further the vision states that the Council is inspired by the prospect of an Ireland “where the arts are practiced and enjoyed widely in our communities”.
Public engagement is one of two priority areas within the strategy. The Council commits to championing the value of amateur and voluntary participation in the arts and develops an advocacy framework of amateur and voluntary practice and participation.
Of the five pillars of the Creative Ireland Programme 2017-2022, representing the Department’s strategy arising from the Culture 2025 Framework National Cultural Policy (2016), two of the pillars focus on participation: 1. Enabling the creative potential of every child; 2. Enabling creativity in every community. The first creates participatory opportunities for children and young people within and outside of the formal education setting in partnership with schools and other youth services. The second supports over 2500 creative projects in partnership with the local authorities. Local authorities in Ireland have a clear legislative mandate to support social inclusion in the arts: Local authority arts offices are required since 2003 to produce an arts or cultural plan for their local region. Arts organisations are now encouraged through the principles set out in the Culture Ireland Programme to open access further and to create new partnerships with community organisations to offer greater participation. The aforementioned policy frameworks and strategies offer evidence of a recent trend in policy away from an exclusive priority focus on supporting artistic excellence towards an emphasis on culture’s potential as an instrument in citizen wellbeing.
A valuable resource in understanding participation and engagement in the arts was undertaken in 2018 by Behavior and Attitudes (B&A) on behalf of the Arts Council. The study confirmed that the arts provision in Ireland is successful at reaching what they called ‘cultural aficionados’ (people who attend 5+ arts events in previous 12 months).[1] The survey data suggests that the Arts Council policy is relatively successful at reaching a group identified as ‘regulars’ (3-4 types of arts events in previous 12 months). But the data also suggests that the Arts Council still struggles to increase participation levels from the group defined as ‘occasionals’ (1-2 types of events in previous 12 months). Since the 2018 study, the Arts Council has aimed to develop better understanding within individual arts organisations of using census data to understand the profile of their local communities in order to reach out to new audiences. This work is in early stage of development.
There remain a number of psychological barriers to participation and engagement in ‘high culture’ or ‘art’ that is linked to Ireland’s past colonial sublimation as well as perceptions of classist or elitist distinction. Recent cultural policy has attempted to increase participation by widening the definition of culture within policy. Strategic intermediary organisations such as Dublin City Culture Company at a local authority level, or Creative Ireland nationally have been established to operate across and between local neighbourhood communities and cultural institutions as mediator.
[1] Arts Council/Behaviour & Attitudes (B&A) (2018) Attendance, Participation & Engagement with the Arts in Ireland 2018: Arts Council National Survey.
Last update: November, 2020
The Arts Council has recently piloted a new approach to research, evaluation and monitoring of cultural participation. A Social Impact Assessment (SIA) model has been piloted in 2019 and a new Social Impact toolkit is planned for 2020. There has also been a reform of box office data gathering which will improve analysis of quantitative data.
An important recent study aimed at increasing the understanding of arts participation of children and young people in Ireland was conducted by Dr. Emer Smyth in 2016 entitled ‘Arts and Cultural Participation among Children and Young People: Insights from the Growing Up in Ireland Study.’ The study was commissioned by the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Ealaíon. The highly gendered participation was striking with girls much more likely to participate than boys from as young an age as three. The study suggested the importance of placing emphasis on quality participation experiences from pre-school age to allow for the nurturing of exposure across all social groups, which in addition could challenge gender stereotyping from an early age.[1] The report also found that children exposed to cultural participation during school were more likely to participate outside of school. The study noted the high level of engagement in libraries by families and young children across the country and suggested the possibility of using these spaces of high engagement to widen the cultural experiences available to families. Barriers to participation include household income levels, with most structured cultural activities outside of school requiring payment. Building on international research the report confirmed a definite link between participation in culture and cognitive development and wellbeing.
Visitor numbers cultural institutions
According to the Department of Culture, Heritage, and Gaeltacht, the number of visitors to national cultural institutions grew from 4 million in 2014 to 4.9 million in 2016. Visiting cultural institutions is free of charge, apart from some special exhibitions that require payment and are subsidised.
Film
The aggregate output level of film and television production sector grew from half a billion euro in 2014 to over one billion in 2016. Cinema attendance figures declined between 2010 and 2014 but have made some recovery back to 2010 levels.[2]
Arts participation survey
In January 2019, a summary of the report Attendance, Participation & Engagement with the Arts in Ireland 2018: Arts Council National Survey conducted by Behaviour and Attitudes and commissioned by the Arts Council was presented to the arts community. The report continues a series of periodic reviews of participation conducted by the Arts Council (1983, 1994, 2006, 2018).
The researchers separated the data into profile groupings according to an established pattern of attendance: ‘Occasionals’ attending 1-2 types of art forms; ‘Regulars’ 3-4 types; ‘Aficionados’ 5+ types; ‘films only’; and ‘none’. The report can be seen to suggest that existing policies were relatively successful at maintaining satisfaction within the category of attendees they unfortunately termed ‘Aficionados’ who normally attend 20+ arts events within the previous 12 months across all art forms. The report also states that all groups were satisfied with their current levels of attendance regardless of whether low or high. This makes the task of persuading people to attend more difficult if they do not feel they are missing out. Entertainment and socialising are key reasons for attending arts events according to the survey.
As stated earlier, this study continues a series of studies of public attitudes to the arts. However, the studies to date have not looked at comparative levels of participation longitudinally across the 10-12 year period between surveys. It would be useful to do this most especially excluding the group defined as ‘aficionados’. If this comparison was carried out it could act as a benchmark of success of existing cultural access policy in reaching people who had not participated. Also more research on the levels of attendance of minority groups is required as well as greater focus on lower and non-attenders. Specific benchmarks are needed relative to increasing levels of participation from the reports defined groups ‘occasionals’ and ‘regulars’. The highest level reasons for non- attendance in the survey were ‘I’m not really interested’ at 35%, ‘It’s difficult to find the time’ at 30% and ‘It costs too much’ at 30%.[3] According to The Arts in Irish Life report, theatre is the Arts Council funded art form that is attended by the highest percentage of the population compared to other art forms.[4]
Table 3. People who participated in or attended a certain cultural activity during the last 12 months in Ireland (in % of the population, over 2 available years)
Activities heavily subsidised by the state | 2018 | 2019 |
Theatre | 22% | 15% |
Opera performance | 5% | 3% |
Zarzuela | 0% | 0% |
Dance | 9% | 10% |
Concerts of classic music | 6% | 6% |
Libraries | *16% | N/A |
Museums | N/A | N/A |
Monuments | N/A | N/A |
Cultural centres | N/A | N/A |
Activities without large public subsidies | ||
Cinema | 55% | 51% |
To read books not related to the profession or studies | 73% | 44% |
In paper format (Usually use) | 43% | N/A |
In digital format (Usually use) | 15% | N/A |
Directly on the Internet (Usually use) | N/A | N/A |
To listen to music (Usually listen) | N/A | N/A |
In a computer or directly on the Internet | 58% | 77% |
To read periodic publications (Usually read) | N/A | N/A |
Directly on the Internet | N/A | N/A |
To watch movies (Usually watch) | N/A | N/A |
Directly on the Internet | 32% | 32% |
To watch television (Usually watch) | 71% | 72% |
Directly on the Internet | 36% | 37% |
To listen to the radio (Usually watch) | **82% | N/A |
Directly on the internet | N/A | N/A |
To play videogames (Usually play) | N/A | N/A |
To use computer for entertainment or leisure (Usually use) | N/A | N/A |
Internet for entertainment or leisure (Usually use) | N/A | ***88% |
Sources:
Arts Council, Attendance, Participation and Engagement with the Arts in Ireland: Arts Council National Survey, 2018 + 2019.
*Department of Rural and Community Development, Our Public Libraries 2022: Inspiring, Connecting and Empowering Communities, 2018. (754,748 library members, 2016 census population figure of 4761865 = 16%)
**JNLR figures 2019
***www.cso.ie, Information Society Statistics - Households 2019
Table 4. People who have carried out artistic activities in Ireland in the last 12 months by type of activity (in % of total population, 2018)
Activities | 2018 |
Writing | 5% |
Painting or drawing | 6% |
Other visual arts | N/A |
Photography | N/A |
Making videos | 4% |
Designing web pages | N/A |
Drama | 4% |
Dance and ballet | 8% |
Playing a musical instrument | 6% |
Singing in a choir | 8% |
Sources:
Arts Council National Survey 2018 (conducted every 10-12 years)
[1] Arts Council/Smyth, E. (2016) Arts and Cultural Participation among Children and Young People: Insights from the Growing Up in Ireland Study. Arts Council, Dublin.
[2] In 2016 the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, the Department of Communications and the Department of Enterprise commissioned a report to measure the value of the audiovusual sector. SPI/Olsberg won the tender. The report was published in 2018 using 2016 baseline data.
[3] Arts Council/Behaviour & Attitudes (B&A) (2019) Summary Report: Attendance, Participation & Engagement with the Arts in Ireland 2018.
[4] Kantar Media (2016) The Arts In Irish Life: Attendance of Arts Events in the Last Year (page 8, table 2.1).
Last update: November, 2020
Cultural consumption statistics are not separated out at a national level through the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and the CSO only offers data for ‘recreation and culture’ in general. Therefore, there are no reliable data available to provide percentage shares for different domains within the cultural household expenditure of Ireland.
According to Eurostat figures from 2018 price levels for the category 'recreation and culture’ Ireland is 15.8% above the EU-27 average, placing Ireland in the top 7 most expensive countries. The GDP per capita figure for Ireland places second highest in EU-27 at 220.9% of the EU-27.
Last update: November, 2020
Access to and participation in culture by civil society is seen as an important part of cultural policy in Ireland. When surveyed, the public demonstrated a preference for government expenditure to go towards support for youth arts, arts in schools and local arts above support for professional artistic activity.[1]
A network of arts centres are in place throughout the country. They mostly provide a service for each county in Ireland and are supported by a majority of funding from the local authority arts offices and a minority of funding from the Arts Council. Most centres are designed as multi-artform venues with a theatre space as well as a gallery space and practice spaces/studio spaces. These centres are designed so that every citizen has an arts centre within a 20 mile reach. More recent cultural infrastructure investment has produced buildings to serve a library, heritage and arts function such as Dun Laoghaire Lexicon. Youth participation is actively encouraged through the programmes of local authorities. In addition there are youth specialist arts organisations such as Dublin Youth Theatre.
Volunteering is an important form of civic engagement with the arts and culture. A number of not-for-profit organisations are active in this area. Voluntary Arts Ireland is a charity working across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to promote participation in arts and crafts. They promote equality, diversity, social inclusion and active citizenship through participation in the arts. Local authority arts offices and arts centres are reliant on volunteers to help deliver their programmes. Festivals rely heavily on volunteers. Heritage is reliant on volunteers also, as well as the rich local knowledge held by local amateur historians and genealogists.
Local authority arts offices support a number of amateur societies, mostly through benefit in kind, such as film societies and drama societies. The Amateur Drama Council of Ireland (A.D.C.I) is the federation of amateur drama festivals for the whole of Ireland - North and South. It coordinates 47 amateur drama festivals across the island of Ireland including Northern Ireland. The main objective of the Council is to foster, develop, promote and encourage amateur drama in Ireland.
Outside of arts centres and institutions, there is a high level of civic engagement and participation in traditional Irish culture in pubs, village halls, community centres, and in the streets. Traditional arts in Ireland include Irish music, dance, Sean Nós and Irish language literature. Traditional arts in Ireland have only been recognised in cultural policy and supported financially by Government since 2003. The traditional arts in Ireland owe their culturally rich development to voluntary support from civic society. The deep support within civic society for all uniquely Irish culture from Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) to traditional music and dance can be seen as entwined with national pride and nation building. Consequently, there are greater levels of attendance, participation, engagement, volunteering, and philanthropic support from civic society for local festivals and traditional folk culture than there are for the cultural programmes of national cultural institutions.
[1] Arts Council/Behaviour & Attitudes (B&A) (2019) Summary Report: Attendance, Participation & Engagement with the Arts in Ireland 2018.