ARTS COUNCIL: The new 13-member Arts Council announced yesterday by the Minister for Arts, Mr O'Donoghue, is chaired by Ms Olive Braiden and the 12 other members are almost entirely drawn from a cross-section of people working in the arts.
Ms Braiden, a human rights commissioner, member of the broadcasting commission, chairwoman of the Performance Verification Group on Benchmarking for the Department of Justice, and formerly director of the Rape Crisis Centre, chairs the first Arts Council to be appointed under the new Arts Act, which came into effect yesterday.
She said she was an outsider with a broad interest in the arts. "I'm not an artist, and I don't cover any particular constituency" of the arts, which she said were relevant and important across all areas of society, including health, education, and children.
She sees the job as a challenge, and pointed particularly to the recent cutbacks in arts funding, saying she hoped the Minister would find more money for the area. She saw the role of the council as that of "advocates for the arts" and a conduit to the Minister.
Ms Braiden stood unsuccessfully for Fianna Fáil in the 1994 European elections.
The other 12 members of the Arts Council are six women and six men, as specified in the new Arts Act.
Ms Braiden described them as significant people in the arts. She said was looking forward to working with the "incredible experience and talent" the appointees represent.
The Minister compared the choices facing him in appointing the council as being like that of the Kerry selectors and said "the new membership of the Arts Council reflects the imagination, energy and dynamism of the arts sector and the spirit of the new legislation."
The newly appointed members cover a cross-section of the arts, from literature to music to theatre, and is unprecedented in that - aside from the chairwoman, and Emer O'Kelly, the Sunday Independent theatre critic - the entire Arts Council works in the arts.
In accordance with the terms of the new Arts Act, six members of the council are appointed for 2½ years, although they may be reappointed: Willie Doherty, Jerome Hynes (deputy chairman), Philip King, Una Ó Murchú, Emer O'Kelly and Patrick Sutton. The last three are members of the outgoing council.
The other six members - Noelle Campbell Sharpe, Theo Dorgan, Rosaleen Linehan, Orlaith McBride, John McGahern and Mary Nunan - are appointed for a five-year term, which will result in a rolling Arts Council membership in the future.
The Minister said that the decision about who would be appointed for the shorter term was made on Wednesday, by picking names out of a hat. He said he didn't want to create a "two-tier council".
Mr O'Donoghue appointed Ms Braiden to chair the council for her administrative ability and because she is used to working with voluntary organisations, State and Government Departments. "She's a formidable woman and she knows the ropes".
The other members of the new Arts Council are "all involved in one way or another in the arts", and she is not "a stakeholder", he said. He praised her "skills, experience, and commitment, as well as a great personal enthusiasm for the arts".
The Minister said that he expects the Arts Council to represent the sector, advising him in relation to the needs of the arts sector and telling him what is required.
He also said that he hoped to see adequate funding for the arts in the Budget, particularly as the arts were flowering all over the country, and that he was involved in discussions with the Minister for Finance. "Like any other Minister, I'm fighting my corner".
The new chairwoman met Ms Patricia Quinn, director of the Arts Council, on Wednesday. Ms Quinn and the staff of the council welcomed the appointment of the new council members yesterday. Ms Quinn thanked the outgoing members of the 11th Arts Council, which was chaired by Patrick Murphy. "I would like to express my thanks to them for five years of hard work and commitment," she said.
Members of the Arts Council, like members of semi-state boards, receive a small annual fee and expenses. Under the old Arts Act, only the chairman was paid a fee; under section 14 of the new Arts Act, all members receive a fee. The fee for the chairwoman is €7,618.43 and for ordinary members €5,078.95.
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