Ms Michelle Carew:

No, it is the fact our society is changing and the demographic of our society is changing, and how our arts are governed and managed and who they are for needs to move alongside that. I say that positively because I see major effort and engagement with that among the arts organisations, artists and public bodies that are operating in this space. It is acknowledging that this is really important work a. With the new census data coming out, we see it even more starkly. It is just that we keep in step.

On the matter of public art, I wanted to acknowledge the huge opportunity in the redevelopment of the present arts scheme and the increasing thresholds, and acknowledge that it is apparent that Government policy on public art is being developed. It is really important that that policy takes account of the full potential of public art beyond the notion of monumental artworks on roadsides, but also that those artworks can be any form of art, of any duration, and that they should have at their centre public engagement and create opportunities for artists to make work and to be employed. That is going to be extremely opportune, particularly in the context of a city like Cork, where there is a major amount of capital development planned. The potential there is massive.