Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, for taking this matter. In October last, she hosted a Zoom meeting to consider the matter of core funding for Yeats Society Sligo. At that meeting, attended by the director, Susan O'Keeffe, board members and all the local Deputies, it was clearly outlined to the Minister and her officials the urgent need for core operational funding to keep the society on life support while it planned for and worked towards a post-Covid future.

I do not need to convince the Minister of the immense value of the Yeats Society Sligo. It is more than 60 years old and celebrates the life and legacy of W.B. Yeats, our Nobel prize-winning poet, and his talented family. It is also worth noting that some of the people who set up the society were contemporaries of W.B. Yeats. At that time, they were way ahead of the curve. The society now operates the longest running international literary school in the world. It is running its summer school online this year. It has promoted Yeats, Sligo and Ireland to many generations of international summer school students and has significantly helped in consolidating his reputation as a global literary genius, which, in turn, greatly enhances Ireland's cultural standing.

As already stated, the Minister and her Department know all of this. They also know that the Yeats Society Sligo will close its doors at the end of September this year due to a lack of revenue unless core operational funding is sourced. The society cannot be just another casualty of Covid. We are talking about a reasonable amount of money to keep the doors open as the society begins to move towards a post-Covid future. In 2019, the society had 13,000 visitors and was on target for 16,000 in 2020. These visitors generated its revenue. The society was, and is, in profit but it now needs assistance. It has a small number of staff who worked really hard to create a vibrant cultural institution that contributes to the economy of Sligo and, crucially, helps to keep Sligo and Ireland right up there in the international artistic realm. One volunteer committee after another has fought hard for this for over 60 years but it is now in danger of being lost, just as the society is planning for the centenary of Yeats's Nobel prize in 2023. It is worth quoting the citation of the Nobel committee when awarding to W.B. Yeats. It said the award was: "for his always inspired poetry, which in a highly artistic form gives expression to the spirit of a whole nation."

Once again, I say that we cannot lose this or put it at risk. The question that I and the Yeats Society Ireland put to the Government is why does it not see fit to fund the work of a small charity which has an international reputation and which supports the national poet? I am not saying the Minister has completely turned her back on the society because she has not. The society has received grants, but they are project grants. They do not provide the operational funding that would allow the society to keep the doors open. I ask the Minister for core operational funding.

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