Sir, - I found that Victoria White's profile of Sile de Valera's first year in office (July 9th) made absorbing reading but there are quite a few topics raised in the article that prompt me to write this letter.
I would like to take issue with the "leading figures in the arts world who would not go on record" who complain about her "failure to philosophise about the arts" and "a lack of leadership". Surely we have enough people around the country who philosophise about the arts already and we have enough leaders in the arts world. What we do need - and what I believe we have - is somebody who will listen, assess and then fight for the arts at the Cabinet table which is the one place philosophers and arts managers cannot reach.
I was astonished at the unnamed music administrator who commented that "The Minister has bought a pup" with regard to the proposed Irish Academy for the Performing Arts. The Minister has not bought anything yet. What she has done is to listen to proposals made to her and set up a working group to look into the project. The Academy may not happen, it may prove too expensive, the Earlsfort Terrace site may prove unsuitable, but there is nothing definite on the table yet until the working party produces its report.
However, it is ludicrous to suggest that it would be a "political monument". Does anybody think of the National College of Art and Design as such? The Performing Arts have been shamefully neglected at Third Level for far too long and we have an ideal opportunity to create an Academy that would serve the needs of Irish students of the 21st century, not just in classical music but also in traditional music, jazz, theatre, opera and even film, video and recording techniques. I am passionate about this and I do not apologise for it.
The opportunity to invite artists of the calibre of Liam Neeson, Paddy Moloney, Joe Dowling, Fiona Shaw, Suzanne Murphy, Barry Douglas, Louis Stewart and many others to give lectures and master-classes at such an institution fills me with great excitement. It is hardly a "pup" I am attempting to sell to the Minister.
A number of your correspondents have already referred to the state of music education in our schools. I found it strange that so many people use it as a means of attacking Sile de Valera as the matter lies wholly within the Department of Education. When I asked one correspondent what he was doing practically to solve the problems apart from writing to The Irish Times, I found that he had not made any representation to the Minister, had not met with any of the senior civil servants and was not aware of the changes taking place in the music curriculum.
The Minister, Micheal Martin, has a personal interest in music, the Secretary of the Department, John Dennehy, has been associated with the National Youth Orchestra for many years and, as Director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music for the past four years, I have been extremely impressed with the senior civil servants in the Department with whom I have come in contact. There is great room for improvement but I feel that the will is there as is shown by the new syllabi for Leaving and Junior Certs and the increase in the number of As in the Leaving Cert. Co-operation rather than confrontation is what is needed.
We used to be known as a nation of begrudgers. I think that that has changed and with the advent of the Celtic Tiger there are far more people willing to go out and make things happen rather than moan that it might never be so. Let's give credit where credit is due. Sile de Valera did not come into her job and put her own stamp on it by throwing out the ideas of her predecessor as has happened in Irish politics in the past. She assessed everything and has already implemented some of his plans - and the achievement of the £26 million for the Arts Council is quite a feat. She has spent a year in "hard work and research", as Declan Gorman so aptly put it, and I feel that we are going to reap the benefits of this in the next few years. - Yours, etc., John O'Conor,
Director, Royal Irish Academy of Music,
Westland Row,
Dublin 2.