In this October edition we have news about the November closing date for the three main Arts Council funding programmes - Regularly Funded Organisations, Annual Programming Grants and Annual Funding. The application window has now opened.

There is a link to our new archive stories website, an initiative launched on 13 October last by Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to mark the 60^th anniversary of the Arts Council. The Council, from its large archive of documentation, has selected a small proportion of its records and the website commences with a first phase of 14 stories from the 1950s. The stories are primarily told by presenting digital copies of documents from the Council’s archive including letters, minutes and photographs.

We were also very pleased to welcome Minister Deenihan to the Arts Council on the 18 October where he welcomed new members of the Arts Council and addressed our monthly plenary session.

There is information about our audio publishing initiative with RTÉ which has resulted in the release of a number of CDs as part of the Composers of Ireland series including orchestral works by Aosdána member, John Kinsella. We have an update on recent developments in child protection and on a new Arts Council choral training bursaries scheme which will be managed by the Association of Irish Choirs.  There is information about Arts Audiences' 2011 report on arts attendance in Ireland drawn from the Target Group Index. The report aims to provide an overview of arts attendance, broken down by major demographics, as well as media behaviour and usage among arts attenders generally.

The Arts Council was very sad to hear of the passing of Muiris Ó Rócháin and we extend our deepest sympathy to his family.

Some of the items in our news from the arts community section include details about the National Dance Archive of Ireland at the University of Limerick which will be formally opened in November; the new arts and health website developed by Waterford Healing Arts Trust and Create; a link to Arts & Disability Ireland's inaugural strategy and policy document and some information on seminars to be held in Dublin, Kilkenny and London during November. In news from the Cultural Contact Point based in the Arts Council, we have information about a Focus on EU Culture funding seminar and there is some detail about European Festivals Strand 1.3.6 funding, with a deadline of 16 November. The maximum available grant is €100,000.

Finally I am pleased to say that at the 2011 Irish Internet Association Net Visionary Awards ceremony on 30 September the Arts Council won the award in the eGovernment category for its Online Services. Delivering an effective and efficient service to the public is a key part of our work here in the Arts Council.

Sincerely

Orlaith McBride, Director

The Arts Council is reminding arts organisations of the deadline for applications under its three main grant programmes: Regularly Funded Organisations, Annual Programming Grants and Annual Funding. The 'window' for applications opened on Monday 24 October. (This relates to applications seeking funding for the period April 2012 – March 2013).

Stories about work undertaken during the early years of the Arts Council, were published and launched online by Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht on 13 October last. The Arts Council's new archive stories website, is an initiative marking the 60^th anniversary of the Arts Council.

At the 2011 Irish Internet Association Net Visionary Awards ceremony on 30 September the Arts Council won the award in the eGovernment category for its Online Services. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan TD, has welcomed the award to the Arts Council - its second award in two years for its online services. 

Independent, community-based choirs, choral societies or singing groups which are more than one year in existence, are eligible to apply to a new bursaries programme for choirs.

As part of an audio publishing initiative to support and promote the work of Irish composers, the Arts Council and RTÉ have launched a new CD of orchestral works by Dublin-born composer and Aosdána member John Kinsella. John Kinsella joins Gerald Barry, Raymond Deane, Seóirse Bodley, Deirdre Gribbin and Ian Wilson in this project promoting the orchestral works of Irish composers. 

The Arts Council would like to express its condolences to the family of Muiris Ó Rócháin who passed away on the 19 October 2011. Muiris was the co-founder and organiser of Scoil Samhraidh Willie Clancy, the leading event in the traditional arts calendar which attracts traditional musicians, singers and dancers from Ireland and across the world each summer to Milltown Malbay, County Clare. Muiris was highly respected by everyone with an interest in Irish culture and the traditional arts and he will be deeply missed.

As part of the Arts Council's on-going commitment to promoting the protection and welfare of children, we have an update on recent developments in child protection and some information on forthcoming legislation.

Arts Audiences has today published the 2011 report on Arts Attendance in Ireland drawn from the Target Group Index.  The report aims to give an overview of arts attendance in Ireland, broken down by major demographics, as well as media behaviour and usage among arts attenders generally.

We have news in this section about the National Dance Archive of Ireland at the University of Limerick which will be formally opened in November. The official opening will be preceded by a seminar on Dance Archives.There is also information about the new arts and health website developed by Waterford Healing Arts Trust and Create; there is a link to Arts & Disability Ireland's inaugural strategy and policy document. Detail about a symposium at the National Gallery of Ireland about challenges facing museums and cultural institutions (3 November) and a seminar in Kilkenny on the theme of social inclusion and cultural diversity in Ireland's cultural spaces (11 November) is also provided. A one day conference exploring and developing Irish Arts in Britain is taking place in London (25 November).

News from the Cultural Contact Point (CCP) in October includes: Reminder about the European Festivals Strand 1.3.6 with a deadline of 16 November.  The aim of strand 1.3.6 is to support festivals having a European dimension and contributing to the general objectives of the Culture Programme. We also hear about the Focus on EU Culture funding seminar and some upcoming European Academy courses.