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Minister Cullen – “Creative ideas are the lifeblood of innovation and economic success”
19 Sep 2009 :
Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism today (Saturday 19 September 2009) said that “the Irish imagination is one of our greatest assets and that creative ideas are the lifeblood of innovation and economic success.”
The Minister was speaking at the Global Irish Economic Forum in Farmleigh, Dublin. The Minister also said that new research has shown that the cultural and creative sector is one of the most dynamic areas of the Irish economy, with a total economic impact last year of €11.8 billion.

Speaking on the theme, ‘Promoting Brand Ireland through our global cultural profile’, the Minister said: “As other elements of Ireland’s international reputation and success have been challenged in the last year, Irish culture has come into focus as one of our most important national assets and selling points in building brand Ireland. The celebrations this year of Seamus Heaney’s 70th and Brian Friel’s 80th birthdays and U2’s technologically groundbreaking 360 tour are reminders of Ireland’s position as a world leader in this field.”

The Minister said that the global association of Ireland with creativity and imagination has the potential to support the Government’s Smart Economy strategy; reinforce the branding of Ireland as the “Innovation Island”; position the country as a global creative hub and an attractive destination for foreign direct investment; and drive the dynamic growth area of cultural tourism.

According to a new research document, the “Economic Impact of the Cultural Sector” by DKM Economic Consultants, the cultural and creative sectors are in themselves a major sector of the economy in terms of both output and employment (defining the cultural sector as arts and cultural heritage, and the creative sector as audiovisual, film, music, publishing, architecture, design and advertising).

Taking into account economic multipliers, the “value added” dependent on the cultural and creative sectors in 2008 was €11.8 billion, or the equivalent of 7.6% of total GNP; Employment dependent on the cultural and creative sectors combined in 2008 was 170,000 or 8.7% of total employment in the economy; This represents a return on direct exchequer expenditure of €330m.

The Minister also said that the link between the cultural and tourism brands is “particularly powerful.” Tourism Ireland have identified “sightseers and culture seekers” as the best international tourist prospects, currently accounting for almost 60% of all holidaymakers to the island of Ireland. There is also strong growth potential. Of the 115m potential visitors to Ireland in the ten largest markets, 75m have a strong interest in sightseeing and culture, and for 33m of those, it is their core holiday motivation. A total of 73,000 Irish jobs are at least partly dependent on overseas cultural tourism to Ireland (DKM).

Also according to the DKM study, projected growth for the sector is also above trend:

The cultural and creative sectors are globally among the fastest growing, representing 7% of global GDP and growing at 10% per annum; Cultural tourism is expected to grow at 15% per annum; The culture-related sectors are thus projected to grow at two to three times the rate for the economy as a whole and will be one of the key growth areas for Ireland in the next decade.

Additionally, the Minister also referenced a newly-published report by the Ireland Funds, “The Global Irish Making a Difference Together: a comparative review of international diaspora strategies”, which comments that “Culture is the great ‘Gateway to Ireland’, has a powerful role to play in connecting with the global Irish and should be part of all our strategies. Our culture provides us with a significant competitive advantage.”

Minister Cullen said that the global profile of “Irish cultural icons, past and present, indelibly associates Ireland with world-class achievement in creativity and the arts and that each generation is producing great artists who renew and refresh the historic strength of the offer.”

He said that “When world leaders refer to Ireland, it is often through a quote from W B Yeats, Oscar Wilde or Seamus Heaney. It is important that we should, "never take for granted the world-class success and recognition of Irish artists and creative entrepreneurs.”

“The Government has a clear strategy for promoting Irish arts and culture internationally and we established Culture Ireland four years ago to take on this challenge. Since then the agency has promoted and supported over 1,350 Irish cultural initiatives and events in 74 countries. In theatre and dance alone in 2008, live international audiences of over 530,000 experienced Culture-Ireland funded productions world wide."

The Minister also acknowledged the ongoing work of the Irish Film Board. In the last month, seven new Irish feature films supported and promoted by the Irish Film Board were selected for screening in competition at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival.

The Minister also acknowledged the Arts Council - which is funded by the taxpayer through the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, - and the role it plays in providing the core funding to Irish artists and companies, which enables them to create the work which is subsequently promoted and presented worldwide. It also supports artists to undertake international training, research and development, and works with Culture Ireland on major international arts projects such as the Venice Art and Architecture Biennales.





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