We have EDI team updates and the next steps for Stage 2 of the EDI implementation plan.  

Welcome to the new Head of EDI! 

Leon Diop joined us in August as our new Arts Council Head of EDI! 

Leon is the co-founder and former CEO of Black and Irish.The organisation is dedicated to bringing awareness to and celebrating the lives of Black and Mixed-Race Irish people. Leon is a published writer and co-authored Black & Irish: Legends, Trailblazers & Everyday Heroes with Briana Fitzsimons which won the An Post Irish Book Award. 

Here’s a message from Leon: 

“Hi! I’m Leon Diop, the new Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts Council. I joined on the 12th of August and I’m loving it so far. When I saw the role posted, I knew it was something I wanted to go for and see if I can make a difference. I’m a big fan and advocate for the arts. I’m also mixed race and my personal and professional experience told me that this role would be the right one for me to go for. I’m so excited to be in the door and working with the incredible team to make the arts something everyone in Ireland can participate in and see themselves reflected in. 

I’m joining from an organization called Black and Irish which I co-founded and have led for the last 4 years. We started during the pandemic in tumultuous times for race relations around the world. We saw the BLM Movement really take centre stage and I wanted to start something in Ireland that showed solidarity with that movement but had an Irish focus on it so we could challenge the issues we face here. We started as an Instagram and quickly grew into a full-fledged organization. You can find out more through the Black and Irish podcast on Spotify or through our book which we published last year. Our work centred advocacy against racism, education and community building. Representation was a huge part of our work and naturally the arts is where we can really see ourselves present or absent. The black and Irish community is home to incredible creativity in all its forms but that wasn’t necessarily reflected across Ireland the way it could be. There’s so much more we can all do to ensure the black and mixed race community alongside many other communities who have been marginalized, get the opportunity to fully create and participate in the arts. 

Coming into this role I have clear priorities which I’m happy to share. The organisation has made significant strides with publications like the EDI implementation plan and the Open Up report, which shine a light with where we are at the moment in the arts. What I’ve noticed from my first two weeks here is that there is a recognition that work needs to be done, but there is an appetite to get it done for the benefit of the arts. I’m excited to work with that to deliver phase 2 of the implementation plan over the next two years and to work on reports like the Open Up report and other reports that will follow, to ensure we get a broader scope of people participating in the arts and feeling like the arts is for them. I’m excited to engage with senior leadership in the organisation to drive this. 

So all in all, the first two weeks have gone well. My line manager Deirdre Behan and team, Hannah, Sarah and Vanessa alongside the wider Strategic Development Department and Arts Council have done huge work to make me feel welcome. I’m very grateful for that. I’m excited for this next chapter in my life and for the next chapter of the Arts Council too!” 

We’re delighted to have Leon on board! 

Research and Consultation on Artforms and Arts Practices in Ireland  

We have officially begun this project and are working with AEA Consulting, a UK-based international research consultancy. They have experience researching in the arts sector in Ireland and will be leading the research, analysis, and consultation phases of the research project. We’re really looking forward to seeing what comes from this major piece of research. The first phase is desk-based research and will investigate how arts councils around the world define the artforms they fund, if they even use definitions, and how that influences both how they work and the arts sector as a whole.  

EDI Implementation Plan 

We are now engaging with the tender process to bring on an external evaluator for Stage 1 of the implementation plan. They will review our outputs and delivery of Stage 1 projects and give us recommendations for Stage 2. This is part of the planning and mobilisation phase that we are currently in as we wrap up and report on the 20 Stage 1 projects and prepare to initiate Stage 2.