JUST weeks after Limerick City and County councillors voted to establish the country’s first council committee entirely dedicated to culture, local artists are claiming that the local authority has failed to ensure that people working in the cultural community are represented on the new group.
The Professional Limerick Artists Network (PLAN) and Limerick Arts and Cultural Exchange (LACE) are angered by what they see as a row-back on plans to give them a voice on the new culture Strategic Policy Committee (SPC).
The groups claim they were given to believe there would be two seats each on the committee for PLAN and LACE, as the organised representatives of people involved in arts and culture in the city and county.
But the local authority denies ever promising the four seats and says that the two organisations will have to go through the Public Private Network system to gain representation.
“Two representatives each was the deal and now they have gone back on that. There seems to be a strong reluctance on the council executive to have anything directly to do with the arts committees,” said Keith Bogue, chairperson of PLAN.
Mr Bogue fears that the representation for arts and culture groups, which they believe was agreed, is now far from secure.
“Anyone from haberdashers to dentists can apply through the PPN system. We were the people doing the work all along. We were the people giving our time and expertise for free to try to advise the council when they were paying enormous amounts of money to outside consultant for advice.
Now they’re changing the goalposts and we’re being pushed aside. A deal is a deal and they’ve gone back on it,” he declared.
Sectoral interests on the council’s existing SPCs are chosen from membership of the PPN and the council says this is the appropriate way for PLAN and LACE to get a voice on the new committee.
A statement on behalf of the council said: “It is incorrect and misleading to say that the two groups are being sidelined.
“The SPC system is intended to give councillors and relevant sectoral interests an opportunity for full involvement in the policy making process from the early stages.
“The setting up of a Culture SPC is being done in accordance with the regulations and guidelines set down by the government. One of the guidelines indicates that sectoral interests are nominated through the Public Participation Network (PPN).
“This process was indicated to the PLAN and LACE groups via email in which they were encouraged to register with the PPN. At a previous working group meeting, the issue of membership of the SPC was raised. Both PLAN and LACE were told that the issue would be looked in to”.
However, Solidarity Party councillor Cian Prendiville believes there is another way.
“I understand that the argument is being made that the SPC guidelines do not allow this, however no section of the guidelines was quoted to back up this assertion. Having read through the guidelines, I believe that it is possible,” he said.
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