Concerns raised over Ireland’s lack of Arts Council Chair 

Arts leaders and politicians in Ireland have criticised Arts and Media Minister Catherine Martin for taking over four months to appoint a Chair to the Arts Council.

Her department recently confirmed that there are currently 17 vacancies on boards of national cultural institutions across Ireland, including the role of Chair at the Arts Council – An Chomhairle Ealaíon – which has been empty since Kevin Rafter's departure, announced on 1 December last year.

The Fianna Fáil TD (a member of the lower house of the Irish Parliament) told the Irish Mail on Sunday: "This delay is most regrettable. It creates the impression that arts and culture are some sort of decorous side issue to be left on the political sideline to be waved at. This is a substantial budget which needs to be supervised appropriately."

"The arts play a key role in building wellbeing in communities, in tourism and in job creation. It is not politically wise or responsible to leave the sector without leadership," added the Cavan-Monaghan TD.

Niamh Smyth, head of the Oireachtas Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht, said that cultural bodies and arts organisations “are becoming gravely concerned over the long delay in appointing a new chair”.

Sinn Féin senator Fintan Warfield previously raised the issue last month, saying: “It is now March 2024, and there is no chairperson of the Arts Council, a state agency with a budget of €130m."