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Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht announces funding for the promotion of Irish arts abroad.
Funding of over €1m has been announced today (13 Dec 2013) by Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, for the promotion of Irish arts abroad in 2014, through his Department’s Culture Ireland division. This includes annual funding for resource organisations who promote film, music and literature, as well as funding for the Centre Culturel in Paris and the Irish Arts Center New York.
Announcing the funding, Minister Deenihan said that there would be a particular focus on cultural events across the world over the course of the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Festival, including significant projects in the United States, China, Russia and the UK.
“The focus on Irish culture during the St. Patrick’s Festival presents a great opportunity to put the spotlight on Ireland’s creative and artistic strengths”, said Minister Deenihan. “It will be good for tourism and good for our economy. St. Patricks Day is a unique festival in its international appeal and popularity. We will be working closely with Tourism Ireland, state agencies who promote Ireland abroad, and our embassies to promote the festival and to promote Ireland.
“This year has been a particularly successful year for our artists overseas, and we will continue to build on that success in 2014. The Edinburgh Festivals were a real highlight in 2013, with three Fringe First Awards and a Herald Angel Award. It is gratifying to see that artists and performers who featured in Edinburgh are now being offered further opportunities overseas through the Culture Ireland division of my Department”.
In 2014, Culture Ireland will continue to build on and strengthen the initiatives and networks that have been so successful in promoting our artists and performers as well as further developing Ireland’s reputation for innovation and creativity.
Some of the highlights for 2014 include leading Irish theatre companies presenting in New York and at BAM, America's oldest performing arts centre, and traditional music groups touring the United States and Europe, including Germany, Italy and Norway.
For the full list of projects funded see: http://www.cultureireland.ie/applications/index.php?r=reports/outcomeGrants