Resist the cuts in Northern Ireland

Join our campaign to fight against the cuts to arts funding in Northern Ireland.


The cuts to Arts Council Northern Ireland funding has put our industry here at risk.

The over 40% cut to Arts Council Northern Ireland funding over the past 10 years, including 5% imposed by the unelected Permanent Secretary at the Department for Communities last year, has impacted artists, producers and communities.

Prior to the most recent 2023 cuts, Arts Council Northern Ireland supported between 85-100 arts organisation through its annual funding programme. These organisations included venues, festivals, visual arts, music and community organisations. In 2023/4 11 were no longer funded and 74 were funded at a standstill, contributing further to that 40% cut in real terms over 10 years.

Now that power-sharing has been restored, we have a chance to persuade the newly appointed Minister for Communities, Gordon Lyons, that the arts is worth investing in – for NI artistic output, to generate income and for our communities.

Given this, we have been so disappointed that the arts do not feature at all in the current draft Programme for Government "Our Plan: Doing What Matters Most". Our draft submission to the Programme can be read in the document available for download below and you can contribute here by 4 November 2024.

Creative Workers Demand Better - Save the Arts, Resist the Cuts

Why is this important?

Arts and culture jobs in Northern Ireland are at risk. Arts Council NI now receives the equivalent of £5.07 per head of population. Our nearest comparator, Arts Council Wales, received £10.51 per head of population. The Irish Government invests £25.90 per capita in Eire. Northern Ireland arts receives less investment per capita than anywhere in England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland.

The evidence is clear that investing in the arts boosts the economy, supports mental health, physical health, social wellbeing, and community cohesion.

And in a cost of living crisis, this is a deep cut. We need more investment not less.

Write to Gordon Lyons MLA, Communities Minister

What we're doing

Submitting to consultations

We continued to campaign by submitting to the Depts consultation on funding throughout the Summer including on how communities may be affected in general. 

What you can do now

Use our template to write to, or email, the Communities Minister to ask him to reverse the cuts to the arts in Northern Ireland.

Write to Gordon Lyons MLA

Use our email template to write to your local councillor to ask them to commit to protecting arts funding near you.

Email your councillor