Every organisation has received its funding allocation for the year April 2013 - March 2014.  Clearly as far as resources are concerned, these are not the best of times. The challenge facing the Arts Council was to do the best we could, with what we had.

I realise that many organisations are disappointed with the funding offered. The reality is a reduction in Arts Council funding of over 30% since 2008.  We simply do not have sufficient resources to meet the demand of organisations under our funding programmes and of artists who apply under other funding schemes and awards.

Recognising and in no way minimising the challenge facing organisations is important.  So too is planning a way through difficult times. The role of the Arts Council is to support and develop the arts in Ireland.  For 2013 our aim is to balance the needs of existing organisations with emerging and artists and practitioners.  I strongly believe that the strategy underpinning our approach is correct.

We therefore hope that through project awards, bursaries, commissions, programme activity funds, touring, festivals and events and other schemes that many more individuals and organisations will be supported in 2013.

Delivering change and efficiency in how we deliver our services is work in progress. A number of changes will take place over the coming weeks. Firstly all payments will be centralised in a new payments team rather than being processed in arts teams.  An email detailing the changes including a new email address and phone number will be circulated to all individuals and organisations currently in receipt of funding in the coming days.  We are confident that this new system will allow for an efficient and faster turnaround of payments.  We are also writing to organisations funded through our grants programmes that will be affected by recent personnel changes indicating the changes to an arts team where applicable.

All of these changes have been made by the Arts Council to better deliver on our remit as an expert agency leading, developing and supporting the arts in Ireland.

Yours sincerely,

Orlaith McBride

Director

On 9 January 2013 Minister Jimmy Deenihan launched Culture Connects, the cultural programme of Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Arts Council has announced that the application window is now open for the Jerome Hynes Fellowship, an award that aims to develop outstanding cultural leaders for Ireland.

Project Arts Centre and the IETM Secretariat are delighted to host the next IETM international network for contemporary performing arts from 11-14 April 2013 in Dublin, Ireland.

The Arts Council has introduced a new scheme to support festivals and events. The Festivals and Events Scheme (FES) subsumes the previous Small Festivals Scheme.

A review of theatrical presentations of curriculum plays for second-level school audiences was conducted on the Arts Council’s behalf between February and June 2012. The Arts Council would like to thank all those who contributed to the review process. The final report is now available on the Arts Council website and comprises a 56-page report on the findings and recommendations of the review process; and associated appendices (50 pages). Contents page and appendices listing are interactive, for ease of access. The document is available to download here.

The Arts Council will be holding a Dance Funding Clinic to provide information about the various funding schemes currently available for dance artists.

News from the Cultural Contact Point includes: 2013 is the European Year of Citizens: The European Year of Citizens 2013 is dedicated to the rights that come with EU citizenship. Over this year, the European Commission will encourage dialogue between all levels of government, civil society and business at events and conferences around Europe to discuss those EU rights and build a vision of how the EU should be in 2020. Registration now open for Dublin IETM 2013 :IETM is the international network for contemporary performing arts, with a membership of 500 organisations from 50 countries. European Commission working group on artist mobility publishes report:As part of the EU Agenda for Culture the European Commission established working groups of EU member states experts' around key policy priorities. ENCATC publishes Volume 2, Issue 2 of the Journal of Cultural Management and Policy:ENCATC is the European network on cultural management and cultural policy education.