Arts and culture boost will create more island-wide productions, Taoiseach says
By Cate McCurry, PA
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has pledged to fund new arts and cultural programmes that will see more island-wide productions, tours and exhibitions on both sides of the border.
Mr Martin said programmes will be launched later in the year to help communities celebrate the diversity across the island.
In the annual Seamus Share Home Place lecture at Navan Fort in Armagh on Tuesday, Mr Martin spoke of conversations he had with the former deputy first minister of Northern Ireland and a founder of the SDLP.
Mr Martin said Mr Mallon’s “wise words” inspired him when he announced the Shared Island Initiative some five years ago.
“Then, as now, I drew on Seamus’s wise words to encapsulate why we need to do more to accommodate and understand each other across the different and often interwoven communities of this island,” Mr Martin said in his speech.
The Fianna Fáil leader listed projects and initiatives to connect both sides of the border, including an hourly train service from Dublin to Belfast, which he said brought a 50 per cent increase in passenger numbers.
He also cited the Narrow Water Bridge project, a Shared Destinations tourism programme, the Ulster Canal restoration and island-wide enterprise and biodiversity programmes as ways of connecting different communities.
“Because, as Seamus perfectly described it, this is and will always be our ‘shared home place’,” Mr Martin added.
“Our focus on fostering people-to-people interaction is also now moving to a higher level.
“To meet the scale of the demand and the potential there is now, to foster connections in every domain, and to involve and benefit every town and community on this island.
“We are continuing and expanding the Shared Island Civic Society Fund and island-wide Creative Ireland programming.
“We are this year initiating major new arts and cultural heritage programmes, backed with more than €20 million from the Government of Ireland out to 2030.
“This will see more island-wide productions, tours and exhibitions across all arts spheres and a new Ireland-UK cultural partnership for institutions and audiences to engage more with the culture and heritage of both our countries.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Martin visited the Middletown Centre, which works with children and young people with autism and is funded by the Irish Government and Stormont.
“The centre is doing excellent work, not only through providing services and supports, but also in terms of contributing to the broader body of knowledge on autism, through their essential research,” he added.
“It is also a shining example of practical North-South co-operation in action.
“It was established by the two departments of education, north and south, in 2007, and is funded by both departments.
“It demonstrates the strength of collaboration on this island, and what can be achieved by working together.”