Trade unions are criticising plans to reduce Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s (ACNI) budget by 10% ahead of a rally in Belfast.
Earlier this month, ACNI warned its regularly funded arts organisations their annual funding for 2023-24 was likely to drop by 10%, due to an expected reduction in funding allocated to Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities.
In response, Equity Northern Ireland will host an arts funding rally tomorrow (25 April) in Belfast, campaigning against the move.
An online petition by Equity Campaigns Officer Gareth Forest has received over 2,000 signatures since its launch last week, which Equity plans to hand deliver to the Permanent Secretary's offices at the Department for Communities in Belfast.
The campaign has received support from the Musicians' Union, who called the proposition “reckless in the extreme”, adding it will put the jobs of musicians across Northern Ireland at risk.
“The budget of Arts Council of Northern Ireland is already incredibly poor per capita when compared with Arts Council England, Arts Council Wales and Creative Scotland,” the union said.
It is planning to write to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Communities and to the Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to “urge them in the strongest terms to reverse these proposed cuts before it is too late”.