Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

If the Minister really believes in the power of the artistic disciplines in all our lives, she can make the greatest case for the arts to be equal when it comes to finance.

I cannot end without making a reference to Mr. McNulty and the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Any political interference that undermines the independence of the boards of our cultural institutions, or any board, is unacceptable and should never happen. However, I feel that the thrust of this motion, the thrust of the amendments to the Order of Business, the thrust of the recent Adjournment debate, just might be operating in the realm of the dark arts. A very good example of the dark arts is Jacobean tragedy, 16th century tragedy by Webster and Middleton, among others, which came after Shakespeare.