Following the strategic directions laid down in its five-year plan, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) has allocated more than £5.7m to 113 arts organisations throughout Northern Ireland, and shifted the balance in its revenue funding grants to give significantly more support to artists and creative production.
The independent theatre sector is to benefit from an 18% increase, including theatre companies Kabosh, Tinderbox, Replay, Prime Cut and Big Telly. Anne Langford, spokesperson for The Independent Theatre Lobby which has been campaigning heavily for realistic funding for the sector, expressed surprise and delight at the allocations, but warned: ?we do see this very much as the first step and will continue to lobby the Arts Council to ensure that funding continues to increase to redress the imbalance of the past few years, to ensure parity with the rest of the UK and to straighten the infrastructure so that the title of Capital of Culture 2008 is a real possibility.?
This latest funding round has also seen uplifts for arts and disability organisations, and for ?strategically significant? clients in the youth arts sector, including Young at Art, the Ulster Youth Orchestra and the Ulster Youth Choir. Sixteen organisations not currently in receipt of revenue funding, and six new organisations have also been included in the allocations, including Altnaveigh House Trust in Newry, Maydown Youth Training Project on the Waterside in Derry City and Creative Exchange.
Unlike its counterparts in England, Wales and Scotland, ACNI is facing standstill funding from the Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure, pegged initially at £7.4m, so some of the funds for the new allocations have been released through a 10% reduction in support to District Council operated venues. The move signals the Council?s intention, over the next five years, to reduce significantly its outlay to such bodies and to encourage local authorities to shoulder more of the burden of core funding such venues. A major casualty of this is Belfast Grand Opera House, which, only weeks after its capital development plans were overturned, has had its funding cut by 10%. Derek Nicholls, Director of the Theatre, said ?This savage cut in the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's support of the Theatre will hit theatregoers, as prices will inevitably have to increase. It may not be possible to sustain the quality of artistic work for which the Grand Opera House has become renowned? Once more, the success of a highly-popular theatre has been penalised.?