Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

We will ignore the darker arts that might be at play. Indeed the idea that Fianna Fáil would stand up and trumpet its role in what it has created is not in the spirit of the arts at all, given that, as the previous speaker has said eloquently, the arts belong to all of us. They do not belong to any particular party and what it might have achieved or might not have achieved.

We are here today to discuss with the Minister the way in which her portfolio, particularly as she is a new Minister, may grow in the year or years ahead and to see how we always need investment in the arts. The Minister knows that very well. She knows that while we have around us in this country a remarkable number of extraordinary artists across all the fields, they need support. As we approach this budget, we all hope that there will be not just a reversal but perhaps an increase in the monies committed to the arts because of the very important role they play. They are part of our lives to the deepest core. When people talk about poetry nourishing the soul, I believe that is actually true. While putting bread on the table is always important, the rose has always had its role and this should continue. At every level, social, local, national, or international, the arts, and everything to do with them, are everywhere with us, wherever we go.

When thinking of Ireland, particularly abroad, people think of two things - the beauty of Ireland, and particularly our wonderful writers, but also our wonderful artists. It is difficult to imagine that we would not be able to celebrate this ourselves at the highest level possible, and to always have it central to our needs. "It's the economy, stupid" gets a great run on every level at all times, but for me this is who we are and what we stand for in the world. We have punched above our weight for such a long time. We must recognise that much more clearly at home.

I am lucky to be standing here as the chair of the Yeats 2015 national steering group and it would be a shame if I did not mention it at this point. As it is officially part of the decade of commemoration, it allows for a whole year to be exclusively about the role played by culture in our lives, our extraordinary cultural heritage and our contemporary cultural wealth, and how we can marry them. It is not a commemorative event. There will be some commemorative aspects to it - it is 150 years since the birth of William Butler Yeats - but it will also be a celebration of what he did, of the inspiration that he gave and continues to give. Indeed, my colleague, Senator Eamonn Coghlan, mentioned any number of artists and singers and all kinds of people, many of whom were inspired by Yeats. We will be celebrating Yeats across the country, throughout the year and across the world, because he had, long before social media and long before jet planes, a great capacity to understand that it is the link that binds the world together. While we may disagree about all manner of things, we find harmony when we sing, when we read poetry and when we write, and in those things we are at one as human beings. That is a very important and profound message that we can take away.

Where we might disagree about all manner of things, we find harmony when we sing, read poetry or write. In those things, we are at one as human beings. This is an important and profound message.

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of being with the ambassador, Dan Mulhall, in London when we launched Yeats 2015 to a very appreciative audience who were dying to take part and to find great ways to celebrate Yeats and, I might add, all that is part of contemporary Irish culture. I look forward to the launch of Yeats 2015 with the Minister in Dublin, hopefully next month. We have been working hard for a long time to get to this stage. However, it is important that it be about more than Yeats because we should also celebrate our great contemporary cultural wealth. I know the Minister will be working hard to assist us to build and grow in this area, particularly as we come out of difficult times.

Seamus Heaney said that William Butler Yeats had the gift for beating the scrap metal of day-to-day life into a ringing bell. Perhaps there has been a lot of scrap metal recently but I am sure the Minister will be able to produce more than a ringing bell.