This week we all waited with bated breath for the announcements in #Budget2023 appropriately dubbed the ‘Cost of Living Budget’. We knew there were many challenges to be faced and were understandably anxious about how the Arts would fare among all the clamouring voices.

It was with mild relief that we learned that #Budget2023 maintained the current supports to Arts Council of Ireland and Creative Ireland on 2022 levels. However not allowing for any inflationary increases in costs which the arts also are subjected to, may yet prove to be a stumbling block for many small arts organisations. In this regards, we welcome the € 15 million Energy Support Scheme for the Arts which will be made available to assist with these rising costs and look forward to learning more about the details of same, which we understand must be drawn down in 2022.

We also hugely welcome the additional € 2 million support towards the work of our colleagues in Culture Ireland, bringing their annual budget to €6.6million towards supporting and investing in the internationalisation of Irish arts. Street, Circus and Spectacle have always had an international outlook and are hugely grateful to the work that Culture Ireland does in this regard supporting ISACS artists to tour and present their work across a global platform.

We also must commend Minister Catherine Martin on the introduction of the pilot scheme for Basic Income for the Arts and look forward to learning about the impacts that providing a basic income for artists can and will have on their creative lives.

We are excited to learn about the new scheme proposed in capital funding of € 7 million towards artists’ spaces and climate adaptation, a timely and important recognition of the continuous need for investment in our cultural infrastructure, as well as the proposed new programme towards supporting the Night-time economy.

We, in ISACS, turn our focus now to continuing to campaign for our Street, Circus and Spectacle Arts sectors’ long-term future.

In this regard we ask the following:

  • Increase the Arts Council investment in Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle Art forms to bring the allocation to a minimum of € 6 million
  • Continue to invest in research and policy development for the development of circus and street arts infrastructure, creation space & educational opportunities
  • Support the development of a Group Insurance Scheme to leverage accessible, appropriate and sustainable insurance products for the wider arts and entertainment sector to avail of.
  • In light of the recent addition of travelling circus and fairgrounds to Irelands living cultural heritage inventory, we urge the state to: Protect the past through a National Archive for Circus and Fairgrounds & Invest in the future through reinstating access to basic education for travelling circus and fairground families
  • Increase access to the arts for all members of society
  • Continue and grow investment and supports in Youth and Social Circus for future generations
  • Create infrastructure for the arts and for artists to live and work in

We echo the voice of our colleagues in the National Campaign for the Arts when they say: ‘We look forward to engaging with Minister Martin and her department on the other elements of our pre-Budget submission including investment in research, taxation and insurance reform as well as better equipping our sector for the climate emergency and ensuring we have a fair and diverse workforce.’ See more here→

Minister Catherine Martins Budget 2023 Speech

Dept of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media Budget 2023 Press Release