Madam, - Like Fred Johnston (January 3rd), I would like to ask why the Arts Council has once again refused grant aid to the Western Writers' Centre.
The centre has managed, on very little, to carry out a programme of readings, events and initiatives which are unique in this region. It established the first ever writer-in-residence in a Galway hospital, working with elderly long-stay patients to produce an anthology of poems.
Its outreach work included running a poetry workshop with the Traveller Support Group, in the process working up a radio play written by Julia Sweeney, a member of the travelling community. As a teacher of travellers for many years, I can only applaud an initiative that enables a marginalised group to find its voice.
I recently attended a weekend publishing seminar, organised by the centre, which was so successful that some who turned up had to be turned away.
All of which prompts the question: why is this centre, the only one of its kind in the West, being starved of funds? Isn't it time for the Arts Council to reverse its decision? - Yours, etc,
MAUREEN GALLAGHER, Castlelawn Heights, Galway.