From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
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The Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan TD, has today (Friday) published Ireland’s first ever national cultural policy framework, Culture 2025 – A National Cultural Policy Framework to 2025.
Culture 2025 sets the direction for Government policy across the cultural sector, including the arts, the Irish language and the creative, heritage and audiovisual sectors. It details the Government’s aspirations for these areas and how these aspirations can be achieved. You can read the policy here: A National Cultural Policy Framework to 2025
Central to Culture 2025 is the recognition of the value of culture and creativity to the individual and society, the need to support creative practice and cultural participation and a commitment to cherish Ireland’s cultural heritage.
The aims of Culture 2025 are already being progressed through current Government initiatives including the Creative Ireland Programme, the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language, Global Ireland 2025, the National Biodiversity Action Plan and the Audiovisual Action Plan. It is also supported by the €1.2bn capital investment for culture, heritage and the Gaeltacht through Project Ireland 2040. Culture 2025 will ensure a unified approach to these cultural policies across Government and to planning and provision across the cultural sector.
Key actions contained within Culture 2025 include:
Speaking today Minister Madigan said:
"Our culture in all its distinctiveness and variety is what identifies us as a people. It captures our past, shapes our present and imagines our future. One hundred years on from the cultural revival which accompanied and inspired the revolutionary movement that led to independence, it is timely to set out a vision for our cultural future.
"Culture 2025 sets out an overarching vision and framework for the future and outlines our plans for action. It is underpinned by a firm Government commitment to continue to significantly increase funding for culture, doubling it to €576m by 2025. This builds on the progress made to date which has seen funding for culture increase by 24% since 2017. This will allow us to support Irish culture on the world stage and to invest significantly more in national and local services for the arts, the Irish language and the creative, heritage and audiovisual sectors. "
The Minister continued:
"Much has been achieved in the cultural sector over the last number of years but clearly there is still a long way to go. Culture 2025 sets out a broad road map of where we need to get to and of what needs to be done to get there. It is a very important acknowledgement by the Government of the importance of culture in all our lives and of its commitment to support and promote our cultural sector in the years to come."