City of Culture 2013
Culture, Arts and Leisure
2:00 pm
Danny Kinahan (UUP)
1. asked the Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure to outline how the £12.6 million funding will be utilised for the cultural programme for Derry/Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013. (AQO 2313/11-15)
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) has committed £12·6 million to the City of Culture 2013 cultural programme over the next two financial years. That £12·6 million includes £9 million for the cultural programme of events; £1·6 million for marketing; and a £2 million optimism bias to manage unforeseen costs.
DCAL’s contribution will be spread across an agreed list of events and activities in the run-up to and during 2013. It will contribute to events management costs, technical and production costs, artists’ fees and the costs of venue hire. The funding has been allocated to achieve specific and measurable outcomes for the city and, indeed, the wider region in respect of the economy, health, education and social cohesion to provide a lasting legacy for local people.
Danny Kinahan (UUP)
I thank the Minister for her answer. Will she outline the benefits of the funding for not just Londonderry but the whole of the north-west?
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
I thank the Member for that question. It is accepted that the region has been underfunded over decades. This will help to generate the local economy, provide employment and develop skills that will hopefully make local people employable well beyond the year of the City of Culture. As well as that, you have hotel beds, restaurants and local companies involved in design and production. You have tourism and local transport. The All-Ireland Fleadh is also coming. It is estimated that well over €30 million has been spent. The GAA will hold its annual convention there as well, and that will bring in a substantial amount of money.
The social legacy is also very important. It will help to build and develop good relations among the people across the city and, indeed, the north-west. It will feed into the border counties and surrounding areas, which can only be good. The Executive’s contribution to this is quite substantial.
Michelle McIlveen (DUP)
I understand that the Culture Company still has to secure £7·75 million for marketing and programming and that it hopes to secure part of that through sponsorship. If that money is not secured, does DCAL plan to make up the shortfall? If so, will the Minister give an assurance that any further funding required will not come as a result of a further pillaging of the Ulster-Scots and museums budgets?
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
I will take the last point first. Those budgets were not pillaged. When people do not spend their money, it is brought back into a central fund. It is a disgrace that the Ulster-Scots organisations did not spend their money, because the Ulster-Scots community then loses out. I have put that on the record before. If that continues to happen, I will look at the future arrangements. It just cannot continue to happen. Museums got a big uplift in their budget the last time. The money was used to pay for libraries, so it had nothing to do with the City of Culture.
The Culture Company and Derry City Council have told us that they are confident that they can get the remainder of sponsorship. Indeed, there was an event in London organised by Hugo Swire to help to secure additional sponsorship. I am reluctant — I think that the Executive are reluctant — to go above and beyond what we have already paid for. That is only fair. Almost £20 million of exchequer money is going into Derry City of Culture 2013. It is incumbent on Derry City Council and the Culture Company to secure the remainder of the sponsorship.
Raymond McCartney (Sinn Féin)
Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an fhreagra sin agus as an mhéid airgid a gheobhaidh Doire ag an bhomaite. I thank the Minister for her answer. On behalf of the people of Derry, I also thank her for this well-needed boost to City of Culture funding.
Does she agree with me that it will have a great impact on not only the city’s employment and cultural product but have a longer-lasting cultural legacy?
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
I thank the Member for his question. The legacy is one of the important issues for the Executive. In response to the question asked by Danny Kinahan, the economic legacy will bring investment to a part of the North that has been deprived of investment for decades. It will also bring local employment and employability skills. Above and beyond that, it will help to promote a part of the North that has a brilliant cultural hub anyway and leave a richer and greater legacy. The Peace One Day concert was attended by between 8,000 and 10,000 people. All of the people who attended spent money, but not all of them were from the city of Derry. It is important that people from Belfast, people like me, get on the bus to Derry, which leaves Belfast every half an hour. Derry has a lot to offer.
Go raibh maith agat, a Phríomh-LeasCheann Comhairle. I thank the Minister for her answers, and I thank her even more for her financial commitment to the City of Culture. I look forward to seeing her many times at events in the city over the next couple of years. What proportion, if any, of the £12·6 million will be utilised for the cultural programme, community engagement and cross-community development?
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
I thank the Member for his question and his comments. To be honest, if I spend any more time in Derry, I will have to look for lodgings.
Carál Ní Chuilín (Sinn Féin)
Yes, and I hear that you do competitive rates, Pat. The programmes and events bidding for the £9 million have to demonstrate not only that there is community engagement around the City of Culture but that it will endure beyond the ending of the 2013 initiative. I do not have a percentage figure, but we are working on the basis that, in the granting of the £9 million, community engagement has to be demonstrated. It also has to be demonstrated that there is a wealth of diverse programmes that reflect the rich cultural nature and heritage of the city and, indeed, the north-west. If percentages are attached to that, I am not aware of them. Our Department is working with the Culture Company to ensure that that happens across our £9 million for the events and initiatives.