Opinion & Book Reviews

Catherine Martin Swept Aside the Old Excuses for Not Supporting the Arts
The Minister for Arts has lost her seat in the General Election, but she leaves a formidable legacy, writes Toner Quinn.
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What’s Next for Irish Music?
What does the recent trajectory of the arts in Ireland – from Arts Council funding increases to the Basic Income pilot – mean for musicians? How can we further strengthen music across Ireland? And what do these developments mean for the tradition of the Irish harp? This is an edited version of the Harp Ireland/Cruit Éireann Annual Lecture, given by Toner Quinn on 17 November 2024 at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
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What Will the 2024 Election Mean for Music and the Arts?
Despite funding increases, pressing questions remain about the state of arts funding and support, writes Toner Quinn.
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The Entanglement – AI, Platform Musicking and the Future of Music
Given the vast amount of user data that streaming platforms have now amassed, combined with advancing AI technology, it is only a matter of time until they offer the ability to generate music, writes Jennifer Walshe. But what does this mean for the future of the art form?
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A Glimpse into Irish Music in the 1980s and 90s
In 2011, a treasure trove of music and arts photos from the 1980s and 90s was rescued from a skip outside the offices of the Sunday Tribune newspaper in Dublin. Among the thousands of images were those documenting Ireland’s classical, jazz, pop, rock, theatre, dance and opera scenes. In this selection of 24 photos, we offer a glimpse into the musical life of Ireland during those decades.
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30 Years of Questions in One Hour: An Interview with Martin Hayes
A recording of a public interview with fiddle player Martin Hayes, conducted by Journal of Music editor Toner Quinn at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2024.
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Why We Need to Decentralise the Arts Council
The Arts Council has secured an unprecedented €140m in the government’s 2025 budget, but where will it be spent, asks Toner Quinn.
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Charting a Period of Extraordinary Change in Irish Traditional Music
Cork University Press has recently published a third edition of the landmark 'Companion to Irish Traditional Music' edited by Fintan Vallely. Méabh Ní Fhuartháin reviews.
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Stanford Revisited
Jeremy Dibble has recently published a revised and expanded version of his major work 'Charles Villiers Stanford: Man and Musician', marking the centenary of the composer's death. Áine Mulvey reviews.
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Silence is Not Complicity: A Reply to Sebastian Adams
In a previous article in the Journal of Music, composer Sebastian Adams criticised music organisations for not supporting activist musicians. Here, music writer Adrian Smith replies and makes the case for the political independence of promoters.
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