The government’s funding announcement for the arts last week was unprecedented, and there are lessons to be learned from the way in which it came about, writes Toner Quinn.

The scale of the funding increase for the arts and music sector in last week’s Budget was so significant that it is important to understand fully what happened. 

The government gave €130m to the Arts Council, plus another €50m for the live entertainment sector. To put this into context, the Council’s funding had peaked at €83m during the Celtic Tiger, thirteen years ago. When the economic crash hit in 2008, Continue reading →

Toner Quinn reviews two new works, ‘Óró’, which brought together artists from around Europe and took place in the Conamara Gaeltacht, and Jennifer Walshe’s live-streamed premiere, ‘Ireland: A Dataset’.

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John Hume’s views on the role of artists in a conflict are worth considering today, writes Toner Quinn.

John Hume, the great peacemaker of Northern Ireland who died this month, was known for his political words, but a year before the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, he also published an essay on culture and society and the role artists can play in a conflict. I came across it last week and it struck me as relevant to some of the challenges we face today. 

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The experience of one village in the west of Ireland shows that the new Minister for Arts faces a serious challenge, to change the way we think about culture and its role in our society, writes Toner Quinn.

A new documentary explores the extraordinary story of David Gray and Ireland in the 1990s, the making of ‘White Ladder’, and how it became Ireland’s best-selling album of all time, but is the story as simple as it seems? Toner Quinn reviews.

In the first ninety seconds of David Gray: Ireland’s Greatest Hit, the new RTÉ documentary on the singer’s successful 1998 album White Ladder, a number of images from Ireland that decade flash across the screen: crowds with tricolours singing ‘Olé, Olé’, traders on a stock-market floor, a photo-shoot marking the introduction of the euro currency, the businessman Denis O’Brien shaking on a deal, Riverdance on stage, a picture of the broadcaster Pat Kenny opening a bottle of champagne…

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If we are going to tackle racism, we need to improve our conversations about culture, writes Toner Quinn.

Of all the ways that we could tackle racism in Ireland – from educational campaigns to investing in communities to stronger legislation against hate speech – the potential of music and culture to open our eyes to the issue must surely warrant serious discussion.

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The government’s ‘Ireland Performs’ series, which was partly funded by Facebook, put already under pressure artists in an unacceptable position. We have got to think hard about the way we support music into the future, writes Toner Quinn.
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As artists and the arts sector face a prolonged period of uncertainty, what needs to be done? How much will it cost? And how should the government respond?
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‘Slí na mBeaglaoich’, featuring the musical travels around Ireland of father and son Breanndán and Cormac Ó Beaglaoich, is currently showing on TG4. Toner Quinn reviews.
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For the past decade, film-maker Myles O’Reilly has been documententing the Irish indie and folk music scenes, creating videos with Lisa Hannigan, Martin Hayes, Ye Vagabonds, Lisa O’Neill, Radie Peat from Lankum and more, and he also filmed the Christmas Eve busk on Grafton street with Glen Hansard, Bono and Sinead O’Connor.
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