A chara, – I would like to congratulate Fintan O’Toole on his clear-eyed analysis of Arts Council funding for theatre companies (Weekend Review, June 30th). The situation he describes in theatre, with the four companies who received the lion’s share of the funding 30 years ago still receiving the lion’s share today, is replicated in my own sector, literature. (Declaration of interest: Liberties Press, which was established in 2003, receives €15,000 in annual funding from the Arts Council.)
Literature is Ireland’s pre-eminent artform, yet it has received a relatively small share of Arts Council funding in recent years; without a robust indigenous publishing sector, writers will continue to go abroad to have their talents nurtured.
Publishers who currently receive the bulk of Arts Council funding have been in operation for 30 or 40 years; in many cases, the level of funding they receive is not matched by the quality or range of their output, or, in particular, by the extent to which they are championing new talent.
At a time of dwindling budgets, the way in which scarce public resources are allocated is, rightly, coming under increasing scrutiny. Unfortunately, as Fintan O’Toole correctly argues, the bright young things of 30 years ago have become the new establishment – in the literature sector as in theatre.
It is time for things to be shaken up again so that new and emerging companies, and new and emerging artists of every stripe, receive a share of resources that reflects their recent efforts and, crucially, their future potential. I welcome a debate on this issue in the weeks and months ahead. – Yours, etc,