David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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37. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way her Department is supporting Irish theatre; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17002/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Primary support for the arts in Ireland is delivered by the Arts Council which is independent in its funding decisions under the Arts Act 2003. I have successfully secured increased funding for the Arts Council in recent years, with a record breaking €134 million being allocated in 2024. The Arts Council operates within a published ten-year strategic framework entitled Making Great Art Work. The Arts Council supports and develops the arts in Ireland through grant funding, project awards, support to individual artists, and support to venues, publications and resource organisations. The following is a link to all of the current available schemes: www.artscouncil.ie/available-funding/

The all-of government Creative Ireland Programme 2023-2027, led by my Department, seeks to enable each citizen to realise their full creative potential. Under its Creative Communities initiative, annual funding is provided to the 31 local authorities to enable them implement their individual Culture and Creativity Strategies 2023-2027. In implementing their respective 5-year strategies, many local authorities have utilised their funding allocation to support creative projects that engage local theatre companies and venues at both amateur and professional level.

Through the Creative Ireland Programme, my Department also supports Fighting Words and Youth Theatre Ireland to provide greater opportunities for young people’s personal development and mental health and wellbeing through creative writing and drama.

Culture Ireland supports Irish Theatre through its touring grants and showcase programme. In 2023, over 30 projects were supported leading to international tours to 15 countries – these included Druid’s US tour of DruidO’Casey, Dead Centre’s Beckett’s Room in Korea, Landmark’s The Saviour at the Irish Repertory Theatre in New York and a focus on Irish work at the Brighton Festival, UK with participation by Dan Colley’s A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings and Brokentalkers’ MASTERCLASS. As well as Brighton, these last two productions continue to tour extensively with Culture Ireland support including dates in Australia, Turkey and Canada.

In addition, in 2023, Culture Ireland supported extensive sustainable US touring across the network of Irish cultural centres for Fishamble and Manchán Magan. Current and recent 2024 projects include Pan Pan’s The First Bad Man at New York’s Lincoln Center, The Gate Theatre’s production of The President in Sydney, Australia and Branar’s Grand Soft Day at the South Bank Centre, London.

As well as its regular touring scheme, through its Showcase programme, Culture Ireland develops further international opportunities for Irish theatre artists. This includes its annual Showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe each August and Meet The Irish showcase in New York. In partnership with Irish Theatre Institute, Culture Ireland also supports and curates incoming programmes for over 40 international festival directors to a range of Irish festivals each year, including the Dublin Theatre Festival, Cork Midsummer Festival and Baboró International Arts Festival for Children in Galway.