The History of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 1943–2016 Between the State and the Arts Lara Cuny The History of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 1943–2016 Lara Cuny The History of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 1943–2016 Between the State and the Arts Lara Cuny Aix-Marseille University Marseille, France ISBN 978-3-031-13408-1 ISBN 978-3-031-13409-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13409-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022 This work is subject to copyright. 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This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Contents 1 Introduction 1 Part I CEMA, from a Temporary Wartime Measure to a Permanent Institution (1939–1951) 2 Arts and Culture in Northern Ireland Before the Second World War 19 3 Creating CEMA 33 4 Establishing CEMA in the Political and Cultural Landscape of Northern Ireland 55 Part II The Evolution of CEMA/ACNI: Politics, Culture and the Arts (1950s–1960s) 5 The Artistic Policy of CEMA/ACNI: Educating the People 77 6 Politics, Sectarianism and CEMA/ACNI 109 7 A Regionalist Agenda in Northern Ireland? 131 8 1968–1972, A Transition 143 v vi CONTENTS Part III Artistic Policy in a Violent Political Context (1970s–1990s) 9 In Times of War: A New Role for the Arts 155 10 Isolationism of ACNI 171 11 Community Arts and Their Development in Northern Ireland 189 12 ACNI and the Peace Process 211 Part IV ACNI’s Integration into a Northern Irish Cultural Policy (1998–2016) 13 A New Institutional Framework 239 14 The Government and the Economic Potential of the Arts 255 15 ACNI: A Contested Development Agency 269 16 Conclusion 295 Appendix 301 Index 305 Abbreviations ABSA Association for the Business Sponsorship of the Arts ACE An Chomhairle Ealaíon ACGB Arts Council of Great Britain ACNI Arts Council of Northern Ireland CAF Community Arts Forum CEMA (GB) Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (Great Britain) CEMA (NI) Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (Northern Ireland) CR Commission Community Relations Commission (1969–1975) CR Community Relations CRC Community Relations Council CTG Cultural Traditions Group DCAL Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure DCMS Department for Culture, Media and Sport DENI Department of Education (Northern Ireland) DETI Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment DUP Democratic Unionist Party EEC European Economic Community EFRD European Fund for Regional Development ENSA Entertainment National Service Association GAA Gaelic Athletic Association GOS Grand Opera Society ILT Irish Literary Theatre IRA Irish Republican Army MAC Metropolitan Art Centre vii viii ABBREVIATIONS MLA Member of the Legislative Assembly (of Northern Ireland) NI Screen Northern Ireland Screen NICRA Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association NILB Northern Ireland Labour Party NILT Northern Ireland Literary Theatre NIO Northern Ireland Office NIOT Northern Ireland Opera Trust PRONI Public Record Office of Northern Ireland RUC Royal Ulster Constabulary SDLP Social Democratic and Labour Party TTG Two Traditions Group UGT Ulster Group Theatre ULT Ulster Literary Theatre UO Ulster Orchestra UUP Ulster Unionist Party List of Figures Fig. 5.1 a Local arts committees in 1955–1956. b Local arts committees in 1960–1961 81 Fig. 5.2 a Local authorities giving a grant to CEMA in 1951. b Local authorities giving a grant to CEMA in 1956. c Local authorities giving a grant to CEMA in 1961 84 Fig. 6.1 Parliamentary sessions dedicated to arts-related topics 121 Fig. 6.2 Number of pages on arts-related topics in the Stormont Papers 122 Fig. 11.1 Evolution of the budget for the different art forms (1969–1990) 206 Fig. A.1 Organisation chart of CEMA (Source Based on Mr. Krieg, “Organisation Chart—CEMA (NI), 1946”, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, AC/3/1, Belfast, PRONI) 301 Fig. A.2 Attendance at arts events by age group, 2012 (Source Strategic Development Department (ACNI), Arts and Culture in Northern Ireland, Belfast: Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 2012, p. 7) 302 Fig. A.3 Evolution of the government grant (in £) to CEMA (1943–1963) 302 Fig. A.4 Evolution of the government grant (in £) to CEMA/ACNI (1943–2016) 303 ix List of Tables Table 5.1 Number of events organised in and outside Belfast for the financial year 1950–1951 78 Table 5.2 Example of grants given by local authorities between 1955 and 1960 85 xi