Speech by Minister Catherine Martin to Shared Island Dialogue: ‘Arts and Culture on a Shared Island’

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Thank you, Seán and my thanks also to Lore for that wonderful performance. It is only through arts and culture that we can say we attended a live performance to start our day!

Tá an-áthas orm a bheith in bhur dteannta ar maidin chun plé a dhéanamh ar son Rialtas na hÉireann ar ‘Ealaíona agus Cultúr ar Oileán Comhroinnte.

And, I am particularly pleased to be joined by Northern Ireland Minister for Communities, Deirdre Hargey MLA, who is also contributing to the discussion.

I want to welcome you, the participants, both here in the distinguished surroundings of Mandela Hall, Queens University, and those of you joining us online for today’s Dialogue. I want to thank you for making the time to join us to share your experience and expertise, particularly as we rescheduled from September as a mark of respect during the official mourning period on the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

At this time, our thoughts are also with the bereaved families and the whole community in Creeslough who have suffered such terrible loss and trauma. The solidarity expressed by people and public representatives across this island and in Britain with the people of Creeslough, and the assistance of emergency services from Northern Ireland in the immediate aftermath, will long be remembered.

It reminds us of the importance and power of compassion and community in our lives.

Turning to today’s proceedings, I think this may be the first occasion that we have had such an impressive and wide-ranging gathering of artists, creators, community organisations and government bodies involved in supporting the arts, culture and creativity sectors, North and South.

This Dialogue is part of a wider series that the Irish Government has convened as part of our Shared Island initiative. The Dialogues aim to bring together stakeholders from different sectors, regions, communities and backgrounds to consider opportunities to both deepen existing cooperation and forge new connections North-South and East-West.

In this way, the Dialogues consider how we can best live up to the commitment of the Good Friday Agreement to work in practical ways to deepen reconciliation across the island and build on progress achieved over almost 25 years of the Agreement.

And of course, Arts and Culture - in all its forms and traditions as practised by professional artists and community organisations – has a major role to play as part of this process.

Artists and arts organisations have been such a key part of the realisation of peace on this island.

Think of the poems, plays, pictures, films, stories and songs that convey different experiences, emotions and perspectives; how we see, hear and relate to each other; how we understand each other on this island.

We have 14 arts organisations that work on an all-island basis. Organisations such as the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig in my own County of Monaghan, of course(!), Visual Arts Ireland, Fighting Words, Poetry Ireland and more.

These arts organisations are thriving in no small part due to the long-standing support and cooperation from Arts Council Ireland and Arts Council Northern Ireland who jointly fund them.

I know that the two Arts Councils work closely together at multiple levels to foster ever deeper collaboration to support artists and arts organisations across the island, not just through jointly funded all island arts organisations but also through various schemes, projects and research. We will draw on their rich experience in today’s panel one discussions.

That strong artistic cultural engagement is also why the government in July allocated over €7 million from our Shared Island Fund for cross-border Arts investment projects, to be developed in consultation with the Arts Councils, North and South.

At the same time, Culture Ireland within my own department supports artists on an all island basis to travel internationally to perform and showcase their work, bringing the rich variety and diverse voices of artists practising on the island of Ireland to a global audience.

Under the Shared Island initiative, I am also keen to harness the power of the arts, culture and creativity to strengthen our connections on this island.

Initiatives such as the Creative Ireland Programme are rooted in this collaboration between people and communities. Indeed, the Programme has been exploring with key partners including the local authorities how to deploy creativity to strengthen connections across the island - and I hope they can build on this work in the coming years.

Working on an all-of-government basis, it offers the opportunity to further activate and deepen those vibrant and inclusive people-to-people and community-to-community partnerships. These partnerships, for example, with the local authorities will be important as they have been instrumental in supporting and forging deeper cross-border connections among community cultural and creative organisations.

I believe community and voluntary organisations are key partners in the process. Through culture and creativity, they provide spaces for people of all backgrounds and traditions to come together, to interact, to build bridges among our communities; and to reflect on who we are, how we feel, and how we work and live together.

We are honoured to have representatives from such community organisations on our second panel today. You are true community leaders and beacons for what can be achieved when we use creative practise to communicate and reach out beyond our immediate environment. You help us learn to use our creativity, appreciate our cultural diversity and fundamentally share new experiences and have some fun together.

Furthermore, through the PEACE PLUS programme - the Irish Government and Northern Ireland Executive with the European Union and UK Government - will make available significant funding over the next 7 years to support peace and progress, including through arts and cultural programmes and spaces.

We have such strong foundations. Today’s Dialogue is an opportunity to think about how - in government, in the professional arts, and in our community organisations - we can build on them and fully release the potential of our arts and cultural sectors, to bring people together.

That includes connecting and cooperating with diverse communities, such as those from a unionist and loyalist tradition, people from new communities across the island, and from communities that are traditionally underrepresented in arts participation.

It also includes looking at how my own department, the Department with responsibility for Arts and Culture in the South, and Minister Hargey’s Department for Communities can seize this opportunity to build our relationships and seek ways to cooperate.

And of course, I am deeply conscious that the cultural and creativity sector has faced extremely difficult times over the past two years as the pandemic brought the sector to a standstill overnight; and remains a significant disrupter, North and South.

But the challenges faced, and indeed the questions we must ask and answer about our cultural interactions on this island, also reminds us of the vital role of arts and culture in our lives, communities and society.

Of the leadership, creativity and resilience of so many artists and arts organisations - at community and professional levels - in helping to comfort, inspire, entertain and sustain people through happy and difficult times.

There are exciting opportunities to collaborate, exchange and interact across the island of Ireland.

This Dialogue is an opportunity to hear from all of you, who are part of truly world-class arts, cultural and creativity sectors on how to create opportunities and overcome challenges for our shared island in the years ahead.

I wish you well in your discussions today and look forward to hearing the thoughts, perspectives and suggestions that emerge from the discussions.

George Bernard Shaw said that life is not about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself.

Is trí na healaíona, an cultúr agus an chruthaitheacht gur féidir linn ár gcumas a aithint, a iniúchadh agus a fhorbairt.

Go raibh math agaibh.