Dear 

This month the NCFA were in Galway, where we held our fourth and final NCFA Colloquy on the arts and education, advocating action on evidence-based policy-making. It’s been an enormously satisfying process. Once again, we reached capacity on the day. We welcomed 200 new followers on twitter, who followed our regular posts from the event and a thousand Facebook friends made it clear they liked what they saw, while another three thousand checked in to find out what was happening and see the photos from the event.

We believe we have a strong mandate to demand action on arts policy. In April, we will launch a report summarizing the most urgent priorities to come to the fore through the Colloquia.

The local and European elections will be held on 23 May. If you aren’t registered to vote, you need to apply before 6 May. We are making the names of the candidates running in the Local and European elections easy to access by linking into that information. Take a few minutes to see who is running in your area. Check if changes to electoral boundaries have affected the number of seats in your area. Check if you have any of the political party’s spokespersons on the arts in your area, not forgetting independent candidates, TDs, and Senators.

Your elected representatives are there to represent you every year and not just when general elections are run.

Demand a fair deal for the arts, arts organisations and artists.
Nothing more and nothing less.

The NCFA Colloquy on education and the arts, arts policy and research, took place at the Radisson Hotel, Galway, on 12 February. Over 70 people listened to educationalist Dr. Julian Sefton-Green champion the centrality of the arts to all education and Finnish government adviser Dr. Hannele Lehto explain how Education and Culture are in one Ministry in Finland, creating a transformation in thinking through the practical relationship between the arts and education. Dr. Marian Fitzgibbon, responded to the speakers by expanding on the history of the issues arising in an Irish context. Two rounds of animated table debated who’s responsible for the arts and education? And whether change for the better will come from non-traditional, informal or conventional settings.

A big thanks for the very generous support of NUI Galway, GMIT Centre for Creative Arts and Media, Town Hall Theatre, Alex Fernie, and Kate Howard, with great front of house support from our volunteers on the day.

You can read a report on the afternoon’s discussions and listen back to the full audio recording here.

We have updated our list of sources for research about the arts and public engagement, cultural value, and education that we have pulled together for ease of access. You can find the links here.

With best wishes,

The Steering Committee: Mark Brennock, Valerie Connor, Vincent Dempsey, Gerard Howlin, Fiach Mac Conghail, Niamh O'Donnell, Claire Power, Mags Walsh.