Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs - Heather Humphreys
Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs - Heather Humphreys

Minister Humphreys announces capital funding of more than €9m for arts and cultural centres

The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys TD, has announced details of more than €9 million in capital funding for arts and culture centres across the country. The Minister made the announcement as part of the Creative Ireland programme, with funding provided under her Department’s Arts and Culture Capital Scheme 2016-2018.

A total of 56 cultural organisations will benefit from this capital investment, including theatres, heritage centres, galleries, archives, integrated arts centres, artist studios and creative and performance spaces.

Seven flagship projects will receive substantial funding allocations:

  • Solstice Meath Arts Centre – €300,000
  • The Irish Arial Creation Centre (home of Fidget Feet) – €350,000
  • The Hunt Museum, Limerick – €400,000
  • The Hawk’s Well Theatre in Sligo – €550,000
  • Cavan Town Hall Theatre – €750,000
  • The Riverbank Arts Centre, Kildare – €1,000,000
  • Wexford Arts Centre – €1,000,000

A further 49 projects will receive funding ranging from €20,000 to €276,000.

Speaking today Minister Humphreys said:

This €9 million announcement is the most significant investment in regional arts and cultural centres in a decade. The Creative Ireland Programme places a focus on investing in our cultural infrastructure, because high quality infrastructure is critical for a vibrant arts and culture sector, which in turn underpins social cohesion and supports sustainable economic growth.

I have visited numerous arts and cultural centres over the last number of years, and it is abundantly clear to me that we are well served in terms of the number of centres nationwide. The main objective of these capital grants is to maintain and enhance the existing stock of arts and culture centres, many of which need to be upgraded.

We deliberately made this scheme as flexible as possible to ensure projects of varying sizes could benefit. The largest funding awards – of €1 million each – are going to Wexford Arts Centre and the Riverbank Arts Centre in Kildare. However a wide variety of other projects will also benefit including new lighting and sound systems in theatres, the conversion of an old Post Office to an artist studio and the improvement of digital facilities. These projects all aim to improve the audience and creative experience. This funding package will also ensure past investment in these arts and cultural centres is protected and sustained.

This kind of investment goes to the very heart of what I am trying to achieve through Creative Ireland and the Action Plan for Rural Development. Creative Ireland aims to place culture and creativity at the heart of every community nationwide, while the Rural Action Plan seeks to revitalise rural towns and villages through a range of investments and initiatives. Of the €9 million in funding I am announcing today, over 85% is going to projects outside Dublin. However, a number of very important cultural facilities in the capital will benefit, including The Irish Film Institute, the Ark, the Gallery of Photography and the Project Arts Centre.

Creative Ireland aims to promote individual, community and national wellbeing through cultural activity. A vibrant cultural sector is essential to society and investment in local arts and cultural centres helps to facilitate access to and participation in the arts in communities nationwide.

I will be opening a further Stream of funding under this Scheme (Stream 3) in the coming weeks. It will be geared towards providing smaller capital grants of up to €20,000 to not-for-profit organisations with a defined arts and cultural remit. While the amounts involved are relatively modest, the grants will in themselves make a huge difference to individual organisations.

See below the full list of organisations to benefit from funding under Stream 1 and 2 of the Arts and Cultural Capital Scheme 2016-2018:

Organisation County Grant award
Townhall Cavan / Cavan Arts & Culture Centre Ltd. Cavan €750,000
Glór Clare €37,029
Firkin Crane Ltd,. Cork €150,000
The Everyman Palace Ltd Cork €155,463
Wandesford Quay Ltd (WQL) Cork €90,842
Cork County Council /Briery Gap Cork €250,000
Cork Opera House DAC Cork €176,288
Abbey Arts and Cultural Centre Donegal €164,785
An Grianán Theatre Donegal €46,420
Donegal County Museum Donegal €27,962
Lifford Association Tourism Commerce & Heritage Limited (LATCH) Donegal €215,753
A4 Arts Studio & Community Education Centre Limited Dublin €22,800
Civic Theatre Company Limited Dublin €132,280
Draíocht Dublin €47,730
Fire Station Artists’s Studios Dublin €30,643
First Fortnight Ltd Dublin €20,560
Fund it Dublin €21,250
Gallery of Photography Ireland Dublin €24,963
Irish Film Institute Dublin €149,801
Irish Georgian Society Dublin €90,000
National Irish Visual Arts Library (NIVAL) Dublin €120,000
National Maritime Musuem of Ireland                               [Maritime Institute of Ireland (Foras Muiridhe ne h-Eireann)] Dublin €49,705
Pavilion Theatre Management Co. Ltd Dublin €149,855
Project Arts Centre Dublin €260,485
The Ark t/a The Children’s Cultural Centre ltd Dublin €130,429
The MART Gallery Ltd, Dublin €34,825
Galway City Museum Galway €180,280
Glenamaddy Arts & Historical Co-Op Society Ltd Galway €50,000
Town Hall Theatre Galway €118,129
Yeats Thoor Ballylee Development Ltd Galway €22,000
Cultural Centre Killarney /Kerry County Council Kerry €120,320
Riverbank Arts Centre Kildare €1,000,000
The Watergate Theatre Kilkenny €81,858
North Leitrim Glens Development Company Ltd Leitrim €50,000
The Dock / Leitrim County Council Leitrim €128,337
Irish Arial Creation Centre Limerick €350,000
Dance Limerick Hub CLG Limerick €75,015
Lime Tree Theatre Limerick Limited Limerick €45,232
Limerick City Gallery of Art Limerick €125,850
The Hunt Museum Ltd Limerick €400,000
Custom House Studios Mayo €43,274
Jackie Clarke Collection Mayo €24,300
Linenhall Arts Centre Co Ltd Mayo €42,000
Meath Arts Centre (Solstice)/Meath Co Co Meath €300,000
Inniskeen Development Group Ltd Monaghan €188,636
Old Post Office Clones /Monaghan County Council Monaghan €144,077
Birr Stage Guild Ltd., Offaly €32,844
Roscommom Arts Centre Roscommon €276,615
Hawk’s Well Theatre Sligo €550,000
Blackcastle Theatre Company Tipperary €23,000
The Source Arts Centre Tipperary €68,000
Barker Arts Centre t/a Waterford €54,000
Dean Crowe Trust Westmeath €113,772
Wexford Arts Centre/Wexford Co Co Wexford €1,000,000
Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre Wicklow €36,036
Tinahely Courthouse CLG t/a The Courthouse Arts Centre Wicklow €28,000
Total Amount Awarded   9,021,444