Ballagh says politicians do not care about arts

Artist Robert Ballagh has said he is not optimistic that recommendations on social inclusion in the arts will be implemented.

"Most Irish politicians with a few exceptions couldn't give a fart in their brown corduroy trousers for any form of art whatsoever," he said.

At the launch yesterday of a National Economic Social Forum Report entitled Arts, Cultural Inclusion and Social Cohesion, Ballagh paraphrased Samuel Beckett and berated politicians' attitude to the arts.

He cited his experience in the High Court last year when he battled to receive royalties for the sale of one of his paintings.

He said the Government was required to introduce a scheme in 2006 on royalty payments to artists, following an EU directive five years earlier, but only introduced it after he went to the High Court. Ballagh said the rushed legislation resulted in confusion about how the royalty scheme should be administered and this was being exploited by some auction houses. Up to the end of December last year, just €5,000 of the €200,000 due to artists was collected, he said. "This means that some auctioneers are holding on to at least €195,000 which rightly belongs to artists. This is probably illegal and certainly unethical," he said.

He said the "mess" was the fault of politicians.