Madam, – In response to Peter Evans (February 19th) and others who have voiced disapproval over the Aviva Stadium, I am astonished, especially in these times, that the benefit of corporate support is not immediately apparent. Now, more than ever, we must celebrate organisations which invest (both commercially and socially) to create the events and infrastructure that make Ireland such a culturally rewarding place to live, whether that be via the arts, popular music or sport.
To suggest that the media should not recognise such support in their reporting is damaging, and fails to recognise that such exposure forms an important part of the equation when businesses enter into a sponsorship arrangement. In our own area of interest, the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival has been brought to a new level through corporate investment, with more high-quality theatre, more ticket sales, increased cultural tourism and, as a result, greater economic activity in Dublin.
In addition, the success of this sponsorship has happily led to further investment by the bank in the Queen's Festival in Belfast and the Gate Theatre tour of Waiting for Godotin 2008. This is equally true of such important relationships as the Jameson Dublin Film Festival, the International Impac Dublin Literary Award and many others.
While the naming of venues and events might be an emotive issue, we live in a time where we must all face the realities of our world and recognise that partnership between all sectors is critical in today’s society and will allow us to continue to build our reputation both nationally and internationally. – Yours, etc,