About the NCFA
Origin
In July 2009, The McCarthy Report was published which recommended, among other things, the closure of the Irish Film Board and Culture Ireland. It also recommended that the existence of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism be ‘critically examined’.
In response to these recommendations and in the shadow of the 2010 Budget, the arts communities of Ireland, led by Theatre Forum, decided to take action. On Wednesday 23 September 2009, the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) was formally launched at the Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children, in Dublin. The aim of the campaign was to assert the fundamental importance of the arts to economic recovery. It had five initial demands:
- The retention of Culture Ireland, the agency for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide
- The retention of The Irish Film Board, development agency of the Irish film agency
- The maintenance of existing levels of funding to the Arts Council
- The retention of the artists´ income tax exemption scheme
- A commitment to retain the arts portfolio at cabinet as part of a senior ministerial portfolio
The 2009 campaign was successful in seeing all of its demands met, excepting the maintenance of existing levels of funding to the Arts Council. A 5.6% cut to the Arts Council in the 2010 Budget, which translated into a €9 million reduction, left more than 300 organisations with severely decreased funding, while 30 organisations had their grant aid cut completely.
Election 2011
We held hustings in Cork, Dublin, Galway and Limerick on Monday 14 February. In Dublin the arts spokespersons from the four main political parties attended with Alex White stepping into the breach for Labour. There were similar representative meetings in Cork, Galway and Limerick. The Dublin event was full to capacity with significant numbers turned away.
NCFA Hustings Project Arts Centre 14 February
2010
The NCFA continued its work on behalf of the arts communities in 2010. The activities of the year culminated in two key events – the National Day of Action and Culture Source.
On Friday 17 September 2010, arts workers and artists in every constituency around the country met their local TDs. This included a meeting in Offaly with An Taoiseach Brian Cowen. Click here for a list of nationwide events and a list of over 80 confirmed meetings with TDs. There were a number of succesful media events around the country on the same day including a Dance Flash Mob outside government buildings.
On Tuesday 21 September 2010, NCFA hosted Culturesource, an introduction to culture and the arts for senior civil servants and policy makers in Government departments. The seminar focused on the role of arts and creativity in the curriculum and as a catalyst for the creative economy and society.
Two more briefings sessions and a podcast of previous sessions are coming up in 2011. More information to follow.