`Arts' Sponsorship - a marketing tool or the Chairman's whim?" was the title of Tuesday's forum at the Public Relations Institute of Ireland writes Emer McNamara. The speakers were Brigid Roden of Cothu, Joe Harford, President and CEO of Yamanouchi Ireland, Michael Cullen, editor of Marketing Magazine, with Pat Slattery of Slattery PR in the chair. The star of the evening was Yamanouchi's Joe Harford, who outlined the merits of CRM (or Cause Related Marketing as it's known in the trade). His company has an impressive arts sponsorship portfolio which stretches from the organ restoration at the NCH to an ongoing relationship with Passion Machine, as well as an art purchasing policy aimed as much at supporting the arts as generating debate within his staff.

It was almost surreal to hear the CEO of a major corporation discuss with such feeling the merits of Passion Machine's Kitchen Sink. During the play's 1997 run, Harford invited an audience comprised of a broad cross-section of the community, including local authority councillors. Given the theme of rezoning in the play, the councillors felt Harford had chosen the play with them specifically in mind. "What else is art for," he remarked "but to stimulate debate." The hot issue for all Institute members is the fact that many arts correspondents neglect to name companies who sponsor the arts, while sports journalists exhibit no such coyness. It was felt by all that this was a barrier which urgently needed to be addressed. No such thing as a free lunch after all - arts organisations and arts journalists take note.