After many months, your representations to public representatives and the NCFA campaigning effort have yielded real results. This week the arts and culture are at the top of the political agenda and will be the subject of debates in BOTH the Houses of the Oireachtas, and specifically discussing the value of the Arts to society and the public service reform plans for the National Cultural Institutions.

Your Support is Critical — We need your continued support to ensure these valuable opportunities to influence the arts debate and policy are used to our best advantage. Watch your parliamentary process in person.

Fill Leinster House — We urge you, colleagues, family and friends to fill the public galleries in Leinster House for this week's debates.

Dáil Éireann debate: Private Members' motion debate; details here.

• Tuesday 26th June, 7pm to 8.30pm
• Wednesday 27th June, 7pm to 8.30pm

Seanad Éireann debate

• Wednesday 27th June, 4.45pm

Admittance — You can arrange admittance to Leinster House by contacting Sarah Kelly in Senator Fiach Mac Conghail's office. Mail your name, indicating the debates you'd like to attend, to Sarah.kelly@oireachtas.ie as soon as possible. For consistent updates on this week’s activity check Campaign4Arts twitter stream.

Now is the time to act for Arts & Culture in Ireland!

The Arts are a political priority
After many months, your representations to public representatives and the NCFA campaigning effort have yielded real results. Next week, the arts are at the top of the political agenda. After a number of meetings between the NCFA, Politicians and Department Officials, the arts and culture will be the subject of debates in both the Houses of the Oireachtas. 

Your support is critical
Next week is an important one for the arts. Arts and cultural issues will be debated in both the Dáil and the Seanad. NCFA Steering Committee members are also meeting with Minister Deenihan in advance of the presentation of his Department's Public Service Reform proposals on Friday next. We need your continued support to ensure these valuable opportunities to influence the arts debate and policy are used to our best advantage.

Calls to action
We need you to act:

• Mail or call your local TD
  Please mail or call your local TD. Contact Senators too. Emphasise your immediate concerns about the proposed changes to the National Cultural Institutions arising from Public Service Reform proposals. We'd also ask that you raise your other concerns about arts policy or lack thereof, the importance of the arts in education as well as the social and cultural tourism value of the arts in every community across the country.
  Email text here. 
• Fill Leinster House
  We urge you, colleagues, family and friends to fill the public galleries in Leinster House for next week's debates. 
• Dáil Éireann debate
  Private Members' motion debates
  Tuesday 26th June, 7pm to 8.30pm
  Wednesday 27th June, 7pm to 8.30pm 
• Seanad Éireann debate
  Wednesday 27th June, 4.45pm 

You can arrange admittance to Leinster House by contacting Sarah Kelly in Senator Fiach Mac Conghail's office. Mail your name, indicating the debates you'd like to attend, to sarah.kelly@oireachtas.ie. Encourage colleagues, friends and family to do the same.

We appreciate all your support and hope to see you at Leinster House. Many thanks again and we'll keep you posted of developments next week.

Sent on behalf of the steering committee:Tania Banotti, Valerie Connor, Loughlin Deegan, Vincent Dempsey, Jack Harte, Gerard Howlin, Fiach Mac Conghail, Janice McAdam, Niamh O'Donnell, Elizabeth Whyte

Public Sector Reform

As you are aware, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform drew up plans for comprehensive public service reform last November 2011. A list of 13 national cultural and heritage institutions and agencies such as Culture Ireland have come under 'Critical Review' or will be amalgamated or merged into the Department of Arts, Heritage and The Gaeltacht in the stated interest of financial cuts and positive budgetary impact. 

Meeting the Minister

NCFA has consistently sought a direct meeting with Minister Deenihan to discuss the plans in person, and to seek transparency and offer consultation from the sector. On April 27th, the Department agreed to meet with the NCFA in the form of two of the civil servants responsible for drafting recommendations on the proposals for the Minister. It was at this meeting that the NCFA learnt of the impending short timeline before the Cabinet meets in late June to sign off on the Public Service Reform plans, and potentially change the course of our National Cultural Institutions forever. 

NCFA wants to reinforce with the Government that the arts sector recognises and is willing to work to optimise resources in these straitened times, but not to the detriment of the independence and creative autonomy that has heralded such great success from our arts and culture in the years of successive governments adherence to the arm's length principle.

The debate

The last month has seen an escalation in public debate around the importance of sustaining our cultural heritage, not least due to the provocations and behind-the-scenes activity of the National Campaign for the Arts on the current issues of Public Sector Reform Plans. The fact that this is now part of the national conversation is a positive step forward in raising the calibre level of the debate and reinforcing the value of the arts at a more intrinsic level than purely the economic argument. 

The Dáil & Seanad

We live in a society, not an economy.

6th June 2012

Priority Questions - a number of the issues will be the subject of priority questions for the Minister from opposition spokespersons tomorrow afternoon*. 

7th June 2012 

Seanad Éireann, Statements on 'A Decade of Commemorations' (Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht) Thursday 11.45AM*

Minister Deenihan will appear in the Seanad to discuss the plans for the Decade of Commemorations for the Centenary. He can expect questions on how the current undermining of our core cultural infrastructure is likely to impact on our international reputation leading up to the commemorations. 

24th May 2012 

Senator Fiach MacConghail contributes to the debate in the Seanad - remarks here. 

May / June 2012 

Intensive lobbying continues between NCFA and Dáil representatives to ensure the issues are raised wherever possible in this month before the summer recess, and crucially before Cabinet meets to vote on Public Sector Reform. 

Keep an eye on our Twitter for updates or watch live on the Oireachtas website. 

Media

A summary of accumulated media, including items from NCFA supporters, listed below from dated most recent:

June 1 – The Irish Times 
Letter: Garry Hynes, Druid AD Bureaucrat Barbarians at the gates?
 
May 31 – The Irish Times
Op-Ed: Has our past no future?
Letter: SIPTU President Bureaucrat Barbarians at the gates?
 
May 30 – The Irish Times
Letter: A case of ‘cultural vandalism’?
 
May 30 – The Journal.ie
Culture was Farmleigh’s answer, Dublin Castle was about quick economic wins 
 
May 29 – The Irish Times
Op-Ed: We must resist merging our cultural institutions
 
May 28 – Frontline, RTÉ One
Discussion: Can the public purse continue to financially support the arts?
 
May 29 – RTÉ Radio One
Today with Pat Kenny, Cultural Institutions 
 
May 27 – RTÉ Radio One
Marian Finucane, Newspaper Panel 
 
May 25 – The Irish Times
Report: Merging of cultural institutions criticised
 
May 24 – The Irish Times
Report: Ferriter resigns in protest from board of National Library
 
May 14 – The Irish Times
Letter: NCFA Future of Culture Ireland

Check our Twitter stream for live commentary on the TV and Radio pieces above. 

CALL TO ACTION - WHAT CAN YOU DO?

I. We are calling on NCFA members in the following constituencies: Carlow-KK (Hogan), Cork South Central (Coveney), Dublin Mid-West(Fitzgerald), Dublin North (Reilly), Dublin North Central (Bruton), Dublin South (Shatter), Dublin South East (Quinn), Dublin South West (Rabitte), Dublin West (Burton, Varadkar), Dun Laoghaire (Eamon Gilmore), Kerry West- North Limerick (Deenihan), Limerick City (Noonan), Mayo (Kenny), Wexford (Howlin) to 

• Directly lobby your respective TD/Minister by letter and request to meet voice your concern on the threat to our national cultural infrastructure and what this means for our national identity. 
• Act swiftly! write today! Time is of the essence, Cabinet meets in 3 weeks time.
• Ask that your TD gives careful consideration to the ramifications of the Public Sector Reform Plans before he /she signs off this June. 
• Reinforce our calls for expertise and independence to be core principles maintained with any changes and for transparency and sectoral consultation going forward.

II. Make sure everyone you know who works in or enjoys the arts as an audience member shows their support by joining the NCFA. 

III. Help us build our funds for the imminent pre-budget campaign DONATE here and if you have already, make sure others around you do, whether individual, organization or public.

IV. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the most up-to-date notifications on the Campaign. 

Finally, a fresh NCFA website is coming soon this summer with easy navigation, ample resources, links, tools, and comprehensive campaign archive to help us build the case for the Arts in Ireland. We can't wait to share it with you and strengthen our resolve for the second half of the year.

I recently attended the Visual Artists Workers Forum in Cork, and will be present at Theatre Forum conference in Belfast next week. Later this summer I will be in Kilkenny, Galway and Limerick, back in Cork and would be delighted to receive invitations to meet with constituency supporters anywhere in Ireland, where possible, in the future.

Until my next update, Louise O'Reilly