‘Arts in Newry grossly underfunded,’ says Bradley

SDLP Assembly Member for Newry and Armagh Dominic Bradley MLA during Question Time at the Assembly this week asked Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister Carál Ní Chuilín to review the capital funding for the arts in Newry.

Bradley said, “Newry City and the wider hinterlands of South Armagh and South Down are steeped in a rich heritage of culture, arts, drama, music and story telling and yet we do not have the arts facilities to match it.

“Over recent weeks and months the Arts sector in Newry they have come together to lobby for real and meaningful capital investment in the sector locally. They want to see a modern facility provided in Newry to match the thriving arts and creative industry sector locally.

“The Minister has confirmed that the Arts Council for Northern Ireland has funded the arts sector in Newry to the tune of £87,000 in the past year, this is very welcome but is a drop in the ocean in comparison to other towns and cities across the North.’

Bradley added, “I want to see this issue progressed in a very positive way and that’s why I have put down a motion in the Assembly asking the Minister to have her department and The Arts Council engage with all the local stakeholders to help deliver significant capital investment in the arts sector and indeed a new modern arts facility in Newry in the not too distant future.”

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Posted by Newry Times News on Oct 9 2013. Filed under Community. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry