The agency for funding and developing the arts said the Council had increased investment in the arts, strengthening key organisations and arts infrastructure, and expanding opportunities for artists to develop and create work of ambition and scale to reach wider audiences.

The Minister for Culture, Heritage & the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan TD, said: “People and communities across Ireland will benefit in 2019 from an investment of more than €75 million in the arts. That investment in artists and in bringing the experience of art into people’s lives is much more than just money.”

“It is a statement of public support for the arts. It is a statement that the arts and artists matter. It is not possible to interpret or imagine our country without the vision and the practice of our artists. All art is the cumulative expression of the artists’ experience. That experience is found in the dense, interconnecting spheres of arts practise and support,” Minister Madigan added.

Arts Council Chair Sheila Pratschke said: “Our aim is to make 2019 a wonderful year for the arts in Ireland. This investment will see the very best performances, concerts, exhibitions, readings and other arts events in every region of the country. We will also continue to attend to the future, investing in artists at key stages of their careers, assisting the development in every art form, to ensure everyone will be able to experience great work for decades to come.”

The Council said it would invest €37.2 million through its Strategic Funding programme, including grants to key arts organisations across the country. A further €12.6 million will be invested in projects and programmes, including Arts Grant Funding, Project Awards, Open Call, and grants for hundreds of productions, touring and festivals.

Supports for individual artists, through the Aosdána cnuas, bursaries, commissions, schemes, residencies and travel and training grants will reach €5.9 million. Local Authorities, Ealaín na Gaeltachta, and arts venues will receive €8.4 million.

Development funding for 2019 will be €5 million, an investment area the agency said covered the maintaining and building on a broad range of long-term initiatives and plans, from Laureate na n-Óg to artists’ residencies, will also see artists making work with children and young people and in disability and health settings. The Arts Council will continue to offer expert advice to Government and to other stakeholders, and maintain its RAISE programme to build capacity within arts organisations to attract private giving.

There will be further investment in the Scoileanna Ildánacha/Creative School pilot, the flagship initiative of the Government’s Creative Ireland programme to enable the creative potential of every child. Creative Schools is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, with schools in every region of the country participating in 2019.

Following the adoption of a new visual arts collection policy, the Council committed to continuing to purchase excellent work by practising visual artists and to sharing the Arts Council Collection with diverse audiences across the country. In 2019 the Arts Council will invest €200,000 in purchasing new visual artists’ work for the Collection.

For full details about investments, go to: http://www.artscouncil.ie/home/