Liam O'Flynn alongside painting by JB Vallely (Photo: Paul Flynn)
The strategic context for the Arts Council’s support of traditional art and all other artforms and areas of arts practice is set out in Making Great Art Work: Arts Council Strategy (2016 –2025) (PDF, 3.29 MB). It describes how we will lead the development of the arts in Ireland over the next decade. Our strategy has five priority areas: the artist; public engagement; investment strategy; spatial and demographic planning; and developing capacity. Current Traditional Arts Policy is aligned to the key objectives and desired outcomes of Making Great Art Work and can be viewed here: Traditional Arts Policy and Strategy 2018 (PDF, 0.57 MB).
Highlighting Ireland's world-class talent
The traditional arts are at the heart of communities throughout Ireland, a shared identity, though diverse in regional accent and technique. The traditional arts are defined as comprising traditional music, song, dance and oral arts such as storytelling, agallamh beirte and lúibíní. The fundamentals of the artist and arts practice, in particular transmission, are at the core of the Arts Council policy and spending decisions on the traditional arts
The traditional arts are enjoying positive growth, reinforced by the Arts Council's commitment to the sector. We support the traditional arts by funding strategically important organisations and by encouraging individual artists to embark on challenging and innovative projects through a suite of individual awards and the bespoke traditional arts funding stream Deis. The Arts Council endeavours to create opportunities for traditional arts practitioners, support key players, and consolidate the traditional arts infrastructure.
The traditional arts play an important role in highlighting Ireland's world-class talent domestically and abroad. The Arts Council works closely with agencies such as Failte Ireland and Culture Ireland to ensure that Irish audiences and visitors to Ireland will continue to experience the highest quality in traditional arts in the future and to bring traditional arts to the wider Irish diaspora and new international audiences.