Madam, – We were dismayed to learn of the Arts Council’s decision to withdraw its grant from the Irish Writers’ Centre. Without this grant, the centre will find it difficult to survive.
The Irish Writers’ Centre serves Irish writers well. It organises a wide variety of literary events. It provides an excellent venue for launches, classes, workshops and award ceremonies. Writers’ groups meet there – for instance, we, the Dublin Women Writers’ Group, have been using the facilities for almost 15 years, during which many of us have published stories, novels, and poems.
For the Irish Writers’ Union, the Irish Translators’ and Interpreters’ Association, and other writers’ organisations, the facilities available at the centre are indispensable. It is the only venue in Dublin which belongs - or seemed to belong — to the community of writers.
The news that the Arts Council has axed its grant is astonishing, even in these difficult times. We call on the Arts Council to reverse that decision. – Yours, etc,