ACNI pride

Urgent, carefully targeted and successful protest has brought the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) a Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) Gold ‘PRide Award’. The winning campaign, ‘Keep Our Arts Alive’, challenged the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure to increase arts funding in the Province, eventually securing a £7.55m uplift in the 2008–2011 budget (see AP157 and AP163). The CIPR Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in Public Relations and Communications, and cover both public and private sectors. ACNI Chief Executive, Roisín McDonough, said that “the brilliant support from the artists and arts organisations for the campaign illustrates the passion and enthusiasm this place has for the arts”. The climax of the campaign saw a large rally of artists and arts organisations at Stormont, presenting Barry McElduff MLA, Chair of the Culture, Arts and Leisure Committee, with a letter asking the government to rethink the budget settlement.