Remarks on Acceptance of an Achievement Award by Galway Chamber of Commerce
8 November 2013
I am delighted to be here today to accept your tribute to my work in the area of culture, arts and creativity.
On the night I came to Galway in 1961 I attended a production at An Taidhbearc. Galway is, of course, associated with the renowned Druid Theatre, Macnas, the recently reopened Taibhdearc na Gaillimhe, the Cuirt Literary Festival, the Film Fleadh, the annual Arts Festival and the many more events, occasions and innovations which continue to ensure Galway’s place at the centre of a creative kaleidoscope, and its reputation as a city and county where thousands of enthralled visitors are invited to enjoy and understand the cultural depth of a modern Ireland. I am aware, as I spoke of it in my address to UNESCO in Paris, that Galway has bid to join UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network as a City of Film. It would be a well deserved, but also an appropriate, honour for a city which consistently adds so much to the artistic quality and significance of our country. Above all it would be an acknowledgement of those who form the creative community in Galway, including those who decades ago were founding figures in arts and culture, among them Lelia Doolin, who is a shining presence.
Is ról suntasach sa sochaí seo ‘gainne ról na hEalaíne agus an Chultúir agus de réir mar atá an tsochaí sin ag athrú is amhlaidh atá ríthábhacht ag gabháil le spás cultúrtha a chruthú agus a choinneáil inti. Nauir a dhéanann muid iarracht brí an ghrá, an bháis, na cogaíochta nó na huaillmhéine a thuiscint iompaímid ar an gceol, ar an drámaíocht, ar an litríocht nó ar na scannáin. Tá áit lárnach ag na healaíona san fhéiniúlacht chultúrtha agus i dtodhchaí chomhroinnte a chruthu atá bunaithe ar bhonn na comh-oidhreachta. Ach chomh maith leis sin, tugann na healaíona léargas agus eolas agus brí dúinn ar an saol laethúil atá thart orainn. Nuair a ligtear scód leis na healaíona, mar a ndearnadh i gcás na Gaillimhe, tugann siad beocht do shaol na cathrach.
[The role of Arts and Culture within our society is a significant one and the creation and retention of a cultural space in our society, as it changes, is crucial. When we seek to understand the meaning of love, or death, or war, or ambition, we turn to music, drama, art, literature and film. The arts are central to cultural identity and to the creation of a shared future based on a common heritage. But they enlighten, inform and give meaning to our everyday existence as well. When, as in Galway’s case, these are allowed to lead they bring sparkle to the life of the city.]
I have often stated my belief that the cultural space is wider than the economic space – that it is, because it is where we live together, a space that must be available to all citizens and be enriched by citizen participation. An effective arts policy is one which brings the arts and culture right into the heart of society and into the everyday spaces which all citizens inhabit, a space where creativity in all its forms can be enjoyed and appreciated by all. Arts and culture policies are best when they are participatory, and not imposed. Culture is, after all, based on what we share and is a process that is continually being reshaped and revised. It is the space in which various forms of human activity are made possible; remembered, invented and imagined. The purpose of the cultural space must be respected as not only a location for artistic endeavour, but also as a source of vision and a defining capacity for quality of life.
There is of course currently some debate as to the relationship between creativity, culture and the economy. Yes, the creative sector is one that generally outperforms every other sector, is rich in employment creation opportunities, but is most sustainably developed when it is built on a shared citizenship foundation. When Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, I was aware of the importance of the creative space and the immediately discernible contribution of the creative industries to economic growth and employment.
It is important that we continue to invest in creative and cultural industries and recognize that such investment produces a multiplier effect far greater than the quantum of the financial input. The arts and culture is a unique sector, not just in its employment-creation potential but in the sustainability of such employment, its capacity for regional dispersal and the economically attested high multiplier it generates for local economies.
Last year the Arts Council reported that the arts sector in Ireland was responsible for “significant direct and indirect employment” with Council funding supporting over two thousand jobs within the sector. The Council also reported that Arts Council supported employment generated an annual turnover of 184 million euro, providing tax revenues of 42 million euro to the Irish exchequer. Those are impressive figures which underline the importance of the Arts sector to our economic growth.
While debate about the relationship between creativity, culture and the economy is of fundamental importance it should not, of course, focus solely on the economic value of creative endeavour. The cultural space should be a source of vision – offering innovation in how we see and live in the world, including but not exclusively the economic domain.
Culture is a foundation store of society that should not be diminished or deprecated, but should bring about a bonded interdependency; an awareness of a shared past that has crafted the present we inhabit today and which can inform the future that we create together. Cultural activity should be an important inspiration and empowerment as we face the challenge of rebuilding our economy and restoring international confidence in that remodelled economy – an economy that is not ‘de-peopled’, nor predicated on the needs and demands of the economic, real or fictive, at the expense of all else.
The cultural space is never appropriately seen as a residual of the marketplace but makes its best contribution as an inclusive and open space in the national psyche. If a cultural space is to be a truly enduring one it must be accepted as not only a location for the arts but as a source of vision – offering innovation in capacity for living, and recognizing the vital role that arts and culture play in producing dynamic, creative and reflective societies.
The words of the poet and philosopher John O’Donoghue are appropriate in his blessing– “May you find a harmony between your soul and your life”.
Art and culture are part of such a harmonious existence. They give meaning, depth and texture to our lives. They humanise our economy and ensure that imagination and creativity are given an honoured place at the centre of a flourishing society. It is critical that we continue to work to ensure that Ireland remains a key international player in creativity and innovation.
Agus Gaillimh anois ina Cathair Scannáin UNESCO, agus áirim cabhair ón Picture Palace sa mhéid sin, tá súil agam go spreagann sé seo muintir na Gaillimhe ar fad agus na daoine sin a thiocfas le cur fúthu inti.
[Becoming a UNESCO City of Film, assisted in this by the Picture Palace, will I hope give you this encouragement to all those who live, and will come to live in Galway.]
Beir Beannacht.
Go raibh mile maith agaibh go leir.