Author Archives: Admin

This is the Arts Council’s ‘RTÉ Moment’ and Serious Change Must Follow

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The Arts Council has written off €5.3m on ‘substandard work’ and an IT system that was ‘not fit for purpose’ while artists try to make ends meet. This has to be the beginning of real change, writes Toner Quinn. [Article irst published in the Journal of Music on 13 February 2025]

There were many surprising and infuriating aspects to the Arts Council’s announcement yesterday, in which it sketched out how it spent €6.675m and then wrote off €5.3m on a new grants management system that never worked, but few satisfactory explanations.

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Stephen Rea to Launch ‘Count Me Out: Selected Writings of Filmmaker Bob Quinn’, edited by Toner Quinn

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I am delighted to announce that renowned actor Stephen Rea will launch Count Me Out: Selected Writings of Filmmaker Bob Quinn, which I have edited, on Saturday 15 February in Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop in Galway City. To pre-order Count Me Out, visit http://journalofmusic.com/shop.

Interview on Film Ireland

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I spoke with Film Ireland about the new book of my father’s writing that I have edited. See full article here: https://filmireland.net/2025/01/22/through-the-lens-of-legacy-a-look-back-at-the-writings-of-bob-quinn/

An Essay in the Irish Times

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This weekend the Irish Times has published an essay I wrote about my father. Read the full piece here: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2025/01/16/the-phone-would-ring-and-it-would-be-mike-scott-from-the-waterboys-or-bono-from-u2-everyone-wanted-to-talk-to-my-father/

Writing About Music – Criticism, Journalism & Professional Development – Maynooth University Micro-credential

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This spring I will be teaching on this new course at Maynooth University: Writing About Music – Criticism, Journalism & Professional Development.

See full details here: https://journalofmusic.com/listing/22-11-23/maynooth-university-micro-credential-writing-about-music-criticism-journalism

Catherine Martin Swept Aside the Old Excuses for Not Supporting the Arts

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When Catherine Martin was appointed Minister for Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht in June 2020, three months into the pandemic, those working in music and the arts had become accustomed to low expectations. 

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‘Count Me Out: Selected Writings of Filmmaker Bob Quinn’ to be Published in February 2025

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Next February 2025, I will publish a collection of my father’s writing, titled Count Me Out: Selected Writings of Filmmaker Bob Quinn.

Find out more here.

What’s Next for Irish Music?

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What does the recent trajectory of the arts in Ireland – from Arts Council funding increases to the Basic Income pilot – mean for musicians? How can we further strengthen music across Ireland? And what do these developments mean for the tradition of the Irish harp? This is an edited version of the Harp Ireland/Cruit Éireann Annual Lecture, given by Toner Quinn on 17 November 2024 at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

It is now ten years since I submitted the Report on the Harping Tradition in Ireland to the Arts Council in October 2014. Commissioned by the Council, it was a 96-page report with 14 recommendations for the future of the instrument in Ireland.

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A Report on My Lecture at Belfast

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Below is a report by Robert McMillen of the Irish News on on my recent lecture at the Belfast International Arts Festival. The lecture was titled ‘How Ireland Thinks About Music’ and took place at the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast on 9 November 2024.

Beyond the political: What Ireland can teach the world about music

by Robert McMillen

Above the cacophony that surrounds Irish traditional music – the endless debates about the “tradition”, the politics of it all, what purpose it serves, is it any good – one voice, it seems to me, rises above all the din: that of Toner Quinn.

Son of film-maker Bob Quinn, Toner is editor of the Journal of Music which was in print for 10 years and online for the past 14 but the Journal also publishes books including its latest, Toner’s own What Ireland Can Teach the World About Music.

As part of the Belfast International Arts Festival, the Conamara resident gave a talk on the book and what he has learnt since its publication last December and as usual, like all his articles, it raised many issues.

One of the reasons Toner started writing about music 25 years ago was because of the way music, particularly traditional Irish music, is often used in society.

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How Ireland Thinks About Music – Lecture at the 2024 William Kennedy Piping Festival

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Saturday, 16 November 2024
Armagh Robinson Library

Good afternoon everyone. 

It’s a real pleasure to be here in Armagh to give the 2024 William Kennedy Lecture, and thank you to Brian, Ciarán and Caoimhín of the festival for the invitation. I have never been to Armagh before though I have been aware of this incredible festival for many years and the extraordinary work of the Armagh Pipers’ Club.

Ciarán Ó Maoláin kindly sent me the book collection of William Kennedy Lectures edited by Brian Vallely, which is a fascinating read, and I can see that my lecture will be one of the few that doesn’t focus on piping, although I think a lot of the ideas that I’ll discuss will resonate with the piping community as much as any part of traditional music.

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