Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister outlined exactly what happened, namely, 141 applicants to the next generation artists fund got an email stating: "I am delighted to inform you that you have been awarded funding to the value of €25,000". Any artist I know would have celebrated straight away having got an email like that. An artist for whom this was life-changing award told me she immediately called her family to share the news and they even cried with happiness at her success. She said they were crying again again later "... when the Arts Council let all of us be crushed by their 'mistake'." Some artists told collaborators and venues straight away and discussed projects. They did not look at the follow-up email straight away and I will come back to that later. Reputations are damaged and trust is affected. Many people were left devastated. It can be dismissed as a simple mistake but there is nothing simple about it for the artists. It was €25,000 they had in their pockets one minute that disappeared the next.

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