2.3 Million Euros for Irish Arts Center - Budget Lesson from Ireland

 

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Announces  
€2.3million Towards Construction of 
New Irish Arts Centre in New York 

Global Irish Economic Forum
detailed by Mr Micheál Martin, T.D.

                    Speaker Christine Quinn and                        
                    Micheál Martin, T.D. 

 The Minister for Foreign Affairs,  
Micheál Martin, T.D.,  
today announced a major grant for a landmark 
Irish project in New York.  
Minister Martin said that a total of €2.3 million will be 
provided immediately towards the construction of a
the Irish Arts Centre in Manhattan.

The Minister said one of the main themes to emerge from 
the attendees at the Global Irish Economic Forum 
was the importance of Irish Culture to the image Ireland abroad and in particular in the USA. 
He noted that this was also an important conclusion of the 
Strategic Review of Ireland US Relations, 
published by the Taoiseach last March.   
Minister Martin said he was extremely impressed by the arguments 
made at Farmleigh by members of the business and cultural sectors alike.

Announcing the grant from the Emigrant Support Programme 
managed by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Minister said:

“The allocation of such significant funding is a clear demonstration of the Government’s strong commitment to the building of the new Irish Arts Centre in New York.  This funding is a response to the extraordinary gesture of the City of New York in making a site, valued at $12 million available for the project, along with a further $8 million in capital funding.

The construction of the New York Irish Arts Centre is identified as a priority in the revised 
Programme for Government and I would like to pay tribute to 
Minister Martin Cullen for his longstanding support and commitment to the project.

The new Centre will project a dynamic image of Ireland and Irish America across the US; it will facilitate extensive Irish-related cultural, business and community programmes; will showcase quality contemporary Irish theatre and art; and will also provide an invaluable resource for the Irish emigrant community in the US”.  

The Minister paid warm tribute to New York City Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Christine Quinn for their exceptional support for the initiative. He also thanked Gabriel Byrne for his support for the Arts Centre and for his longstanding work in promoting Irish culture throughout the US.

Minister Martin said that this major initiative demonstrates how seriously the Government views the outcome of the Farmleigh Forum: “Everybody at Farmleigh said that the success of the Conference could only be judged by the quality of the follow up. Today I have begun to demonstrate that despite the difficult budgetary situation, we are determined to continue investing in our unique resource- the Irish Diaspora and its cultural heritage.

This is just the beginning and I will be making further announcements in the New Year.

Other ideas which are being actively progressed include: a new Global Irish Network; the establishment of an Irish innovation centre in Silicon Valley; the Gateway Ireland portal, which would serve as a key online focus for promoting Ireland abroad and engaging with our global community; expanded educational exchange and scholarship programmes to increase engagement with younger generations; and a new Farmleigh Overseas Graduate Programme.  I am aware that a number of other Departments are also taking forward initiatives suggested at Farmleigh. I am similarly encouraged by the fact that significant work has already been undertaken by participants themselves on a number of projects that are more suitably advanced by the private sector. These will have the support of the Government.”

He pointed out that at its meeting on 13 October, the Government considered a comprehensive report prepared by the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Irish Management Institute.  
The full report contains a detailed list of the main themes and specific proposals 
to emerge and is available at:
www.dfa.ie 
More at:
www.globalirishforum.ie 

Even Ireland Suffers Budget Crunch
The Celtic Tiger is going to be forced to take its belt in a notch
according to a story in the Irish Times of yesterday
(Monday, December 7);
The Irish government will announce details this week to
curtail and cut government spending across the board.
This is quite interesting in view of the grant that the
Irish Government just made to the Irish Arts Centre.
However, it also proves a point;
the Irish cut spending across the board so that
no part of the spending cuts hurts one department more
than any other. Again a lesson we could learn from the
better balanced Irish politicians!
See the entire story at:
irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/

Lesson To Be Learned...
We need to take heed of the Republic of Irelands actions
and insist that our local,state and Federal government act in a similar fashion.
The elitist professional politicians and
entrenched bureaucrats that are running things now
are not going to go gently into the good night.
We have a real fight on our hands!
Bill O'Reilly came up with an interesting idea on his show late
last week; the Fox News Commentator proposed a
Federal Sales Tax of 2% on EVERYTHING 
sold in the US except food.
Two stipulations were called for:
First that the Emergency Sales Tax be temporary
---for five years maximum.
and that it go along with a freeze in government spending.
O'Reilly claims that competition in the marketplace
would ease and absorb the disruptions caused by the tax.

I could support this if the federal government was mandated
to not just freeze spending but to also cut spending by 3%.
The combination could make a significant dent in the
Federal Deficit over Five Years.
If we do not do something of this magnitude immediately,
we are going to totally ruin the economy and leave a legacy
of total economic chaos to our children.
I think this plan and the plan outlined in my
Economics of Chaos blog of a few weeks ago to put
Congress into the Social Security program and
take away the ridiculous pensions that they have voted
for themselves would go a long way toward returning
us to some fiscal sanity.

We do indeed have a real fight on our hands;
this is absolutely the Second American Revolution.
I also believe that it we do not elect a slate of
real conservatives and independents to office in 2010
that our American Democracy and our very way of life
will be lost to the Lovers of Big Government
and Big Corporations.
TheTime is Ripe
This is a clarion call to save America!
Start now by considering a run for office yourself
as an independent fiscal conservation.
We need patriots.
Find others like us and work and support to elect
people who love America and its tradition of freedom.
We need to empty the public trough from which these pigs
who claim they are public servants feed.  
Together, it can be done.
God Bless America. 
May 2010 be a year of change that we can trust. 
Change that we can control. 
A change to return sovereignty to the people.

Slan agus bennacht,
Jim McDonough
12/7/09