Deloitte was appointed by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) to carry out research into the actual and perceived barriers to publicly funded arts in Northern Ireland. The terms of reference for the assignment were: recognising the broader social, cultural and political context to identify and describe actual and perceived barriers to publicly funded arts in Northern Ireland. This included consideration of financial, social, physical, cultural and practical barriers. Publicly funded arts covered the artforms of music, drama, dance, literature, visual arts and crafts and traditional arts (Ulster Scots/Irish); to identify and describe actual and perceived barriers to publicly funded arts in Northern Ireland as faced by minority groups; to identify approaches taken by arts organisations in Northern Ireland to overcome perceived and actual barriers to the arts at a policy, programme and project level; to review best practice in increasing access to the arts adopted by arts organisations in the United Kingdom; and to consider the impact of findings on ACNI objectives.

The link below goes directly to the publication ( 2.76MB PDF)

http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/news/2007/images/Barriers0908b.pdf