Mr. Ray Yeates:

Go raibh míle maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Is cúis áthais dom an seans a bheith agam labhairt leis an gcomhchoiste inniu. Culture and the arts are central to human expression and if placed in a community context, with an inclusive developmental and co-creation approach, their impact can be profound, providing opportunities for everyone involved to learn, safely disagree and grow, while supporting the economy and our society. Dublin City Council is actively engaged in providing opportunities for cultural and arts engagement, through our work and those we engage with, by providing spaces and services for a wide range of events, projects and programming. In line with the UNESCO definition of culture, this work includes the provision and management of parks, libraries, events, sports, community facilities, the Dublin Bay biosphere as well as the arts office, the Hugh Lane Gallery and the work of the Dublin City Council Culture Company. The majority of the cultural and arts buildings and services we provide are managed by the staff of the culture, recreation and economic services, CRES department, where the revenue and capital spend on culture last year was in excess of €100 million.

In addition to the work of the CRES department, Dublin City Council also regularly agrees the installation of murals in negotiated spaces and on temporary structures with the aim of achieving a clean, animated and beautiful city. This approach is taken in order to foster greater community pride and address issues of antisocial behaviour, safety or graffiti and tagging in an area. Staff working in our area offices involved in reopening the city following the Covid-19 pandemic have spent a substantial amount on art in the community through murals and engagements in community building. They commissioned large-scale murals for 2021, for example, at a cost of approximately €300,000. I will refer briefly to some of the work, spaces, programme and activations we engage in, which support community arts and cultural engagement for those who live, work in or visit our capital city.

On 21 May, Dublin City Council, with key support from Creative Ireland and in partnership with Sing Ireland, brought four specially commissioned songs about the Docklands area of Dublin to be performed by local communities at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. Sing a Song of Docklands, a project four years in development, featuring songs from the communities of East Wall, Ringsend, Sheriff Street, North Wall and Pearse Street, was written by professional composers and local residents guided by the noted conductor David Brophy. The songs celebrate the identity, history and unique characteristics of the village of Ringsend, the heritage of East Wall’s former dock workers, the community that live on boats near Pearse Street, and the hopes and dreams of local schoolchildren.

In Creative Places Darndale, which is funded by the Arts Council and Dublin City Council, artists who live locally work alongside visiting artists, and they produced their second Made in Darndale festival last weekend, from 26 to 28 May. It was headlined by the great Jerry Fish, and the festival demonstrates all of the values that Dublin City Council wants to bring to arts in community settings: excellence of process and performance, inclusion, diversity and equality.

When Dublin City Council speaks of community arts, it is usually referring to a community located in a particular place, and the dynamic expression of its identity through the art forms of theatre, the visual arts, music, dance, spectacle, circus, opera, literature and film and much more. The word community itself, when used in this context, refers to the people who live and work in and visit a particular place. There has never been a more important time, in a changed and changing city, to provide opportunities for artistic expression that seeks to be of a high standard, diverse, inclusive and sustainable.

Dublin City Council’s submission sets out four best-practice examples of the values, programming and buildings owned by Dublin City Council: Axis Ballymun, an award-winning arts centre; the work of artist Fiona Whelan with young people in Rialto; the arts in mental health festival First Fortnight; and the Creative Places Darndale project referred to above. These projects show that major partnerships with agencies like Creative Ireland, the Arts Council, local communities and Dublin City Council are the key critical success factors.

The current Dublin City Council arts plan looks at how people and communities engage with the arts. There are professional practitioners like artists, curators, and producers. There are those who join a choir. There are those who use the arts primarily as a platform for learning and self-development. There are audiences, and those who encourage diverse audiences. Críochnóidh mé go luath mar tá mo chuid ama rite. Go raibh míle maith agaibh as an deis seo.