Mr. Liam Bradley:

I think I am quite jovial most of the time. On Creative Ireland, the first specific element where it has been of benefit is in terms of following on from the Ireland 2016 commemorative programme. As I mentioned in my opening statement, local authority regional museums recognised the significant opportunity offered by the 2016 programme for museums, archives, arts organisations and libraries to tackle the question not just of "what" but also "why" and to delve into that and engender discussion and debate. Community buy-in was the basis of that project and Deputy Smyth knows very well from her first-hand experience how well it went. People felt involved in the 2016 programme which led to Creative Ireland.

Creative Ireland was initially perceived locally and within local authorities as quite nebulous in terms of what it was, what it meant and how it could be nailed down. It was not directly focused on 2016 but had a far broader aspect in regard to what is creativity, which led to the discussion around what is culture. The significant initial benefit was funding, which was helpful in a local context. Various culture groups in each local authority benefited from the extra funding which enabled them to carry out specific projects to take each organisation out of the museum, archive, library or arts focus and to work together. In my experience, it has been of significant local benefit, for the arts officer, librarian, myself and the heritage officer who addressed the committee last month to meet discuss what we will do collectively on a year-to-year basis. One can often become busy working in a silo and not look outside.