The Arts Council of Ireland has called for a funding increase to cope with an ‘unprecedented demand’ from artists and arts organisations. Speaking at a press briefing at the Arts Council’s headquarters in Dublin, Ms Olive Braiden, Chair of the Council, said the amount sought currently from Government, if granted, will only meet two-thirds of the actual demand from artists and arts organisations. In its most recent funding application round, the Council received 410 submissions from arts organisations throughout the country - festivals and events, production companies, resource and service organisations and venues – translating to a needed budget of around €100m. ‘The arts community is asking us for almost €100m for their activities in 2005. This demand is running at almost twice the total resources available to the Arts Council in 2004,’ said Ms Braiden. ‘This is an unprecedented level of demand, reflecting the vibrancy of the sector but also the constraints within which people have had to operate over the past five years. 2004’s welcome increase helped after a number of very bad years, but only brought the sector to where it should have been in 2002. The sector remains under-funded and its potential has still to be fully developed,’ the Chair added. New Council Director, Ms Mary Cloake, highlighted financial pressure that has been placed on the major arts organisations over the past five years, accentuating the need for increased support. Speaking about the Council’s submission to Government, Ms Cloake said the demand figure for 2005 represents what existing arts organisations and artists are looking for to continue or extend their activities. The Director stressed that new policy initiatives in 2005 designed to realise much of the latent potential in the arts in Ireland, will only be implemented if resources are available. For further information, CLICK HERE.