Minister Heather Humphreys has today confirmed that the new name of her recently reconfigured Department has been approved by Government. Henceforth, the department will be known as the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

There had been some controversy about the increased responsibilities of the Department, with arts organisations arguing that the role of the arts was being downplayed. However, the name-change goes some way, at least, towards addressing that concern.

The new name is designed to reflect the broader remit of the reconfigured Department, which retains all of the responsibilities of the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, with additional responsibility for a wide range of programmes relating to rural and regional affairs and development.

“This name reflects the wide range of responsibilities under my Department’s remit, Minister Humphries said. "Placing ‘Arts’ at the start of the title also reflects the fact that the arts division accounts for the biggest portion of my Department’s budget. In 2016, arts, culture and film will account for half of the budget under my reconfigured Department. My Department’s website and associated materials will be updated to reflect the new name in the coming days.”