Portlaoise arts centre gets €145,000 grant

THE Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise has been awarded €145,000 under national arts centre funding this year.

The venue is the only centre in Laois that will receive a grant under a national €68.5m funding package, which was announced by the Arts Council on Thursday 9 January.

By contrast, three projects in neighbouring Co Carlow will share €772,000, while Co Kilkenny will receive €1.45m for five projects. Offaly will not receive any grant from the annual fund.

In its first round of funding decisions for 2025, the council awarded grants to 175 arts organisations, arts centres and arts studios around the country.

A total of 104 arts organisations received grants through a strategic funding programme, totalling €57.7 million. This programme is for organisations that ‘make a significant impact to arts infrastructure in Ireland’ and have a national or regional reach. These organisations support a variety of art forms including music, literature, theatre, dance and film.   

Meanwhile, Dunamaise Arts Centre is among 41 arts centres nationwide that will share €10m in this round of funding, which will support the running of each centre. In addition, 30 art studio spaces nationally will share €746,000, providing a workspace for 1,117 visual artists in 15 counties.  

The total award for Co Carlow is made up of €255,000 for Visual under arts centre funding, together with €267,000 for Carlow Arts Festival and €250,000 for United Fall, both under strategic funding.

In Co Kilkenny, four grants totalling €1.31m were awarded under strategic funding to Butler Gallery (€535,300); KCAT Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent (€99,000); Kilkenny Arts Festival (€584,000) and Young Irish Film Makers (€95,000). A further €135,000 went to the Watergate Theatre in Kilkenny under arts centre funding, while An Chéad Tine Art Organisation in Kilkenny got €7,500 as part of the visual artists workspace scheme.

The Arts Council said that applications for funding are continuing to rise, with ‘an unprecedented amount of grant support sought’ reaching 245% that of 2019 levels. The gap between the amount of funding offered and the amount requested is also at a record level.   

Specific criteria against which applications are assessed are artistic quality and development of the arts, public engagement, organisational capacity, the importance of the organisation in the arts infrastructure and their commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.   

The Arts Council said that, under its work programme in 2024, it provided grant support through a variety of schemes to 1880 individuals, 588 organisations, 318 schools, 201 projects, 140 festivals, 31 local authorities and 19 creative community spaces.