Some of the larger privately funded arts organisations in Ireland would include performing arts organisations such as the Gaeity theatre, the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, or the 3Arena. The music sector in particular is dominated by private organisations. At a performance level, the 3Arena is run by Live Nation who run another three venues. Named the fourth busiest music arena in the world in 2013, it is owned by Apollo Leisure Group (a subsidiary of Live Nation) and is operated by Live Nation Ireland. Live Nation is pursuing the purchase of the Irish concert promotions company MCD. Through their subsidiary... read more →
New Search
If you are not happy with the results below please do another searchMost publicly funded arts organisations in Ireland provide outreach programme or audience development programme that offers community engagement and participation in arts practice. These educational programmes are offered to all age groups and occur on site at the cultural institution or offsite in a community setting. Encountering the Arts Ireland (ETAI), an alliance of a diverse range of arts and cultural organisations working with education providers, advocate for greater collaboration and alignment in policy between organisations and government agencies in order to provide children and young people with sustained opportunities in the arts and culture in and out of school. ... read more →
University studies of arts are organised into undergraduate courses (bachelor's degrees) and postgraduate courses (master's degrees, postgraduate programmes, doctoral programmes, etc.). The qualifications that can be obtained are officially recognised under the National Framework of Qualifications. The number of students choosing to study arts degrees at third level has been in decline ever since the recession of 2008, with growing numbers of students deserting the arts for a science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) course. STEM subjects have been incentivised heavily by successive governments since 2008. The Bologna Process has impacted third level education in Ireland in a number of... read more →
The Equality Authority of Ireland has a broad legislative mandate to promote equality of opportunity and to combat discrimination. The field of education is a core focus in the work of the Equality Authority. In Ireland the Employment Equality Acts prohibit discrimination in the workplace, which is relevant for staff in educational establishments as well as educational contexts of cultural institutions. The Equal Status Acts prohibit discrimination in the provision of goods and services, accommodation and education. The Acts include specific provisions in relation to educational establishments. Diversity at School (2004) is a unique and valuable report of the Equality... read more →
The Irish government of the past ten years has largely prioritised a STEM Education Policy (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) over STEAM (with the inclusion of Arts). There have been calls from the arts sector for more recognition and inclusion of arts in the policy agenda of Government. These calls have been acknowledged by the Minister of Culture, but there have been few concrete actions to divert from the STEM policy agenda or to widen it to include arts. The importance of arts education has been emphasised continuously through numerous reports commissioned either by the Arts Council or through joint... read more →
The Department of Education and Skills has the principal responsibility for arts education within schools. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is a statutory body of the Department of Education and Skills that develops the national education curriculum on behalf of the Department. The NCCA three-year strategy 2019-2021 expresses its strategic intention to focus the curriculum around STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) over what the arts and cultural community have called for: STEAM (STEM with the inclusion of A for Arts). Arts education takes place informally in the context of audience development and outreach programmes of cultural... read more →
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,... read more →
A number of professional artists’ associations and interest groups currently operate with restricted membership in Ireland. Unlike other countries, there is no overarching union or professional association to lobby on behalf of the cultural sector as a whole. Such a combined lobby group would present a more cohesive strategy to lobby for the sector. The various professional artists associations operate separately of each other, but have the same aim: to represent the common interests of their members primarily to the state, but also to other professional associations or the general public. Collectively they represent creative artists, arts workers and assist... read more →
In 2018, the Arts Council gave EUR 11.7 million to individual artists. Within the category of artists funding, just over EUR 2.5 million goes towards Aosdána – Cnuas awards (more information below). Other grants to individual artists total EUR 9.2 million. The grant aid to individual artists was just under 20% of the total funding allocation of the Arts Council of EUR 62.3 million in 2018. The remaining 80% of funding is given to arts organisations that in turn commission and award grants to artists. 2018 saw the introduction of a new award for individual artists named the Markievicz Award... read more →
The main approach of the Irish Government to support artists and creative workers has been a system of grants to directly support the practice of artists. These grants are administered at arm’s length by semi state agencies such as the Arts Council, Screen Ireland and Culture Ireland. The national strategy is also supported at local authority arts offices level with a supplementary system of arts grants guided by both national and local arts strategies. Given the continued precarity of artists and creative workers despite the intentions of the existing support system, there has been a recent additional support scheme introduced... read more →