Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Having worked in the arts all my life, but mainly in the vocal arts, aurality of literature, poetry and so on, I know that life in the arts is an uphill struggle.. The Government recently reversed the decision to bring history back as a core subject, having previously made the decision to make it a discrete subject. We sometimes think we are moving on when we are actually moving 40 ft backwards. The Government announced its decision and congratulated itself on doing so even though it had made the initial decision to get rid of the subject.

In regard to the leaving certificate examination, we give 25 additional points for passing higher level mathematics but we do not the same for the visual arts or music, which along with dance is a great artistic healer, such that one wonders what kind of education system we believe is good. That is a general point. The other point is that we now use the term "culture and heritage" to describe art. We no longer refer to literature, dance, drama, oracy, literacy and visual art. We now refer to culture. It is akin to a Tescoisation of what we are because we are afraid to refer to creative Ireland, the Arts Council and culture. There is also increasing competition in this area. Rather than leave the Arts Council to what it was doing, we now have the Creative Ireland Programme and its funding, with applicants now having to navigate their way through various funding streams.

The witnesses are here for good reason. This is the committee tasked with cultural affairs. We can engage on their behalf internally but they need to be as powerful about what they want as they were in their presentations. They are practitioners of their art form. Many of the people who appear at this committee are academics living in their heads, which I gave up at 60 because it does not work. As practitioners of their art form, the witnesses need to demand meetings with Ministers rather than the tentacles of their offices. They should co-ordinate and bring together a common narrative such that they are not all around the houses like a wasp trying to find secure funding.