Arts Council’s £600,000 to West Belfast Festival challenged

Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:

“After the disgraceful scenes at the West Belfast Festival which saw thousands chanting their support for murderous terrorists and the unveiling of a mural depicting an attack on a police Land Rover, I wrote to the principle funders of the event asking a number of questions. I have received a response from the Arts Council advising that over the course of five years the festival has received £685,850 from them in public monies.

“While the Arts Council are keen to point out that the concert at which the canting occurred was “an entirely commercial event” and that the mural was “entirely funded and devised by the band in question” they cannot wash their hands of what happened.

“It is hardly a secret that the West Belfast Festival has culminated in a concert at which this behaviour has occurred year on year. No one should be surprised that the festival generated the sort of headlines it has given what has taken place in the past. You cannot try to distance yourself from events which are a major feature of a festival for which you provided salaries and core costs.

“All funders should do what the Arts Council have so far failed to do and make clear that unless the West Belfast Festival cleans up its act the huge sums of public money it has been able to rely on to date will dry up”.

Note to editors

The letter from the Arts Council replying to Mr Allister is as follows:

Dear Mr Allister 

Thank you for your correspondence. 

On Monday morning (15 August), ACNI were made aware of an incident of sectarian chanting which occurred at a Féile an Phobail concert over the weekend and also of the unveiling of a mural by one of the bands performing at this year’s festival.  As Féile are recipients of our funding, ACNI moved to investigate the circumstances and contacted Féile for initial information on these matters.  The organisation confirmed that chanting had arisen from the audience at the Wolfe Tones concert, an entirely commercial event.  We were also advised that the mural was entirely funded and devised by the band in question, and was not funded or organised by Féile an Phobail.

With regard to your specific queries, I would advise as follows:

i) What funding Feile An Phobail received from the Arts Council:

Féile an Phobail received £116,599 in grant support from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 2022/23.  

ii) The conditions under which the funding was released:

Grant funding is released in scheduled payments on receipt of a signed acceptance to the letter of offer and subsequent submission of staged monitoring reports. 

iii) The purpose for which the funding was awarded:

The award is towards the organisation’s salaries and core costs only; no contribution is made towards artists/musicians fees or any other concert costs. 

iv) If there will be an attempt to recover any of the funding:

In light of the commitment to good relations that we ask of all our funded clients, we will seek to further discuss the issues raised by the incidents directly with Féile an Phobail.   The Board of the Arts Council will be formally updated on the incidents and any related developments at its next meeting. 

v) What assurances were sought and received by the Arts Council that there would be no repeat of the celebration of terrorism which has marked this event in previous years prior to funding being released:

As noted above, scheduled payments are released on receipt of signed acceptance to the letter of offer and subsequent submission of staged monitoring reports.

vi) What has been the total amount of funding awarded to Feile An Phobail in each of the past five years?

In closing, I would add that the Arts Council condemns sectarian behaviour in any form.  If you have any further queries on this issue, do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards

M Lynch

Director of Operations