Election 2024: What Will Each Party Do For The Creative Sector?
Photo: Siobhan McGibbon
In recent years, the creative sector has ben squeezed by an increasingly inhospitable landscape in Ireland. The cost of maintaining and developing creative spaces has seen many hubs close their doors and leave artists with nowhere to go. In a survey conducted by Sinn Féin, 80% of artists cited money as being the key barrier to creating, performing or enjoying art. Over 70% of artists are considering leaving in Ireland for greener creative pastures. So how will each party aid our creative sector?
Since 2022, a three-year pilot scheme has been put in place to supply 9,000 artists with a basic income which serves as a financial foundation for creativity. This scheme has seen thousands of artist given financial stability, deterring them from abandoning their artistic ventures, pursuing other career avenues or emigrating.
Sinn Féin
Implement a 50-point “Poblacht na hÉireann, Poblacht na n-Ealaíon” plan for the arts.
Continuing the three-year Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme to completion and using the
vital research to develop a sustainable and equitable long-term scheme.
Delivering an Arts Spaces Capital Programme based on the Sports Capital Grants, creating
legal protection for existing cultural spaces, ensuring space for culture and nightlife is included
in development planning.
Developing a Cultural Workers Housing and Studio Space Pilot project.
Put Irish language and Gaelic traditional arts at the heart of policymaking and funding for each sector of the arts.
Recognising the art forms of comedy, musical theatre, storytelling, and fashion design, granting
them access to Arts Council supports.
Reviewing what defines “Irish music” or “Irish cultural works” to ensure artists based in Ireland benefit most from such classification and achieve more Irish music on radio and in film.
Deliver an Activity Card of €130 per child to support participation in arts and sports activities.
Fianna Fáil
Retain the Basic Income for the Artists Scheme and address access issues for disabled artists.
Establish and fund an Irish Town of Culture programmes to support local creative projects.
Develop a new multi-year Capital Programme for National Arts Infrastructure.
Support artists to access international opportunities through increased funding.
Fine Gael
In 2017, Leo Varadkar committed to the doubling of expenditure on arts, culture, heritage and the Irish
language by 2025. During the last government expenditure saw an increase from €284 million to €351 million, or 24%.
Create new bursary schemes for young artists from all disciplines.
Help to sustain spaces for artists and creatives in our cities, through creating a new fund which local authorities can access for joint funding to create new spaces and studios.
Cultural schemes like the Markievicz Awards, which supports new works of art celebrating the role of women in our history.
Social Democrats
Establishing special commercial rates for creative/arts spaces and “rates holidays” for new projects.
Introducing an annual Culture Voucher, worth €200, to encourage 18–24- year-olds to take part in cultural activities.
Supporting the establishment of Night Mayors in each of our major cities.
Creating a new regulation that every ticket sold for an arena or stadium show should contain a financial contribution that supports grassroots music.
Developing law and policy to address the risk AI poses to intellectual property and copyright, and mitigating the danger AI poses to the arts.
Using the findings from the Basic Income for Artists study to create a permanent scheme to support artists financially.
Encourage affordable live/workspaces for artists and creative practitioners.
Profit Before Profit
Bring the funding for cultural services, broadcasting, and publishing services closer to the EU average of 0.9% of GDP.
Make the Basic Income for the Arts pilot scheme permanent & expand the definition of artists to be eligible for funding to include most forms of creative arts.
Open public spaces for use by local arts organisations;
Allocate funding to local councils specifically for cultural relevant art-related projects in local communities.
Provide additional funding to the Arts Council to increase the support for the arts and in particular new media art forms such as for computer animation, digital art, and video games, and expand allocation of funding to more artists.
Green Party
Retain and expand our flagship Basic Income for the Arts pilot programme.
Introduce a new arts capital and equipment programme.
Roll out new supports for greening the arts, ensuring in particular that venues can reduce their energy bills and their emissions.
Increase local government arts grants.
Establish a National Women’s Museum to highlight the achievements of women from all walks of life.
Aontú
No mention of arts or the creative sector.
Labour
Provide a permanent Basic Income for the Arts scheme and expand it to increase access, starting with younger artists.
Address barriers for disabled, LGBTQIA+ and ethnically diverse artists and art workers as recommended by the Safe to Create Amplify report.
Undertake a major expansion of the Space to Create scheme to support local authorities secure creative spaces.
Allocate specific funding for emerging artists to access short term leases when required to qualify for Arts Council programme funding.
Seek to expand Arts Council support to a broader range of artists.
Provide low-cost State-backed cultural mortgages and loans for artist organisations to purchase or retrofit buildings.
Apply a Culture/Social Use First policy for vacant publicly owned buildings not suitable for residential use.
