Cullen hails success of Irish Arts at global economic forum

Speaking at the Global Irish Economic Forum in Farmleigh, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen also said that new research has shown that the cultural and creative sector is one of the most dynamic areas of the Irish economy, with a total economic impact last year of €11.8 billion.
According to a new research document, the “Economic Impact of the Cultural Sector” by DKM Economic Consultants, the cultural and creative sectors are in themselves a major sector of the economy in terms of both output and employment (defining the cultural sector as arts and cultural heritage, and the creative sector as audiovisual, film, music, publishing, architecture, design and advertising).
Taking into account economic multipliers, the “value added” dependent on the cultural and creative sectors in 2008 was €11.8 billion, or the equivalent of 7.6% of total GNP;
Employment dependent on the cultural and creative sectors combined in 2008 was 170,000 or 8.7% of total employment in the economy;
This represents a return on direct exchequer expenditure of €330m.
Minister Cullen said that the global profile of “Irish cultural icons, past and present, indelibly associates Ireland with world-class achievement in creativity and the arts and that each generation is producing great artists who renew and refresh the historic strength of the offer.”
He said that “When world leaders refer to Ireland, it is often through a quote from W B Yeats, Oscar Wilde or Seamus Heaney. It is important that we should, "never take for granted the world-class success and recognition of Irish artists and creative entrepreneurs.”
The minister’s remarks come at a fraught time for the arts in Ireland, with the recent An Bord Snip Nua report proposing to do away with the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism altogether.