New Minister to Establish Task Force for Arts and Culture Sector

Minister Catherine Martin

New Minister to Establish Task Force for Arts and Culture Sector

Capital grant scheme for arts organisations also announced.

The new Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht, Catherine Martin TD, says that she will establish a multi-disciplinary task force to ‘protect and sustain’ the arts and culture sector through the Covid-19 pandemic.

The announcement was made following her first visit to the Arts Council last Friday (10 July).

The Minister discussed the possible composition of the task force with the Council and it is expected that a further announcement will be made in the coming weeks.

The establishment of a task force was one of the recommendations in the recent report of the Arts Council’s Expert Advisory Group. It was also referenced in the new Programme for Government.

In addition, Minister Martin announced that her department will be providing capital grants for arts and culture organisations to enable them to reopen safely. This was one of the recommendations in the National Campaign for the Arts’ 13-point plan to save the arts sector. A statement from the department says it be engaging with organisations in the coming days to assess what supports will be required.

The Minister welcomed the report of the Expert Advisory Group and said that it provided ‘a solid base from which to chart a way forward for the sector through these intensely difficult times.’ The report called for an additional €21.4m for the Arts Council for 2020, which was announced in June, and an extra €30m from the government for 2021. 

For more, visit www.chg.gov.ie.

Published on 14 July 2020

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