Open Letter: Belfast Ensemble challenges Secretary of State to boost NI arts sector

On his appointment to cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Bryant outlined a boost to the Creative Industries as a checklist priority.

In an open letter also sent to Gordon Lyons MLA (Communities Minister) and Roisin McDonough (CEO, ACNI), our Executive Producer Andrew Hume lays out a challenge for the Secretary of State:

Dear Chris,

Congratulations on your appointment to cabinet as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

I was hugely encouraged to hear you state the need for a real boost to the NI Creative Industries in your inaugural checklist for NI.  I'm reaching out because I think you’re right, and I want to ensure that our world-class arts sector is at the centre of this acceleration.

As a leading creator of contemporary music, theatre, and opera, Belfast Ensemble has been on the forefront of risk-taking, innovation, and economic development in the arts sector for the last decade.   Over the last  10 years we’ve achieved success through our groundbreaking new work - work that empowers artists, and champions the voices and perspectives of Northern Ireland on the world stage.  

Our successes are hard won, and are achieved in spite of our local investment context, rather than because of it.

I think it’s time this changed. 

The Northern Ireland arts sector is in crisis. 

A crisis aggravated by on-going failures in executive governance and departmental funding allocations. 

As you settle into your new role, there are major challenges ahead of you - the budget, the legacy bill, the constant instability at Stormont that people here are all too familiar and frustrated with.  

I would like to add one simple, achievable challenge to your plate. 

In partnership with the devolved authority of the NI Executive, and in the spirit of boosting the creative industries as you have set out, I challenge you to unlock increased investment in the NI Arts Sector to at least levels comparable with our English colleagues. 

This would require a 160% increase in DfC allocation to ACNI to a total of £21.9  million, which would ultimately return £38.9 million into the local economy.  (I’ll lay out my sums below). 

This challenge is set against a backdrop of huge budgetary pressures across departments.  However, the economic and social evidence is clear - the arts don’t drain health, welfare, and education - we amplify their effect. 

The NI arts portfolio is delegated to the Department of Communities (DfC).

Investment for vital creative development activities sits alongside equally vital social housing, welfare, and anti-poverty policy.  

This leads to impossible political choices for the Minister, and ultimately results in the neglect of creative investment. 

This abdication of artistic responsibility limits the power of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI), and opportunities for our artistic workforce.

The DfC annual funding allocation to ACNI  is £8.15 million - roughly £5 per capita - compared to £13 per capita in England, and £23 per capita a few miles down the road in Dublin.   

There has been no meaningful change to this figure in over 15 years. 

This is a real terms cut of over £10 million since 2011.

Organisations are closing, skilled artists and producers are leaving the country, and those that stay are overworked, underpaid, and under appreciated. 

In NI, an arts career comes at a significant personal and financial cost to our practitioners and workers. 

Over half of arts workers have considered leaving Northern Ireland to build their practice, make their lives, and pay their taxes elsewhere.  

The other half have made an active choice to stay.  Like me,  many of them grew up here during the eighties and nineties, and feel a sense of responsibility to move this place forward and shape a Northern Ireland that works.  

I’m one of many crease-fire babies who have chosen to stay in NI, contribute something positive,  and work to ensure the long promised peace dividends finally pay off.  

15 years of working in and leading arts organisations has made my patience wear thin.

The right to cultural expression (for all types of culture and all types of expression) that is enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement has been dismantled by systematic under-investment.

Despite this, our local arts sector makes work of outstanding quality.   

Actors like Anthony Boyle and Lola Petricrew are showing the world what talent with a native Belfast accent can do on stage and screen.

Creators like Oona Doherty (choreographer) and my colleague Conor Mitchell (composer/director) are redefining dance, music, and theatre in major global institutions.  

The world’s leading fashion design innovator, JW Anderson (Creative Director, Dior) has come a long way from his hometown, Magherafelt.

These are just some examples. 

The talent, contribution, and potential of Northern Irish artists is immense.

The arts sector’s ability to enhance well-being, economic development, tourism, community cohesion, and reputation building (all of which the north is crying out for) is also immense.

I believe there is a direct correlation between the underfunding of our arts sector and the stagnation of Northern Ireland’s true potential across all of these high-priority policy areas.

As a lover of music and theatre, I’m sure you’re innately aware of the unique power of cultural experiences to help us process our past, bring people together and to establish well rounded communities with strong connections and effective critical thinking skills.   

And that’s not all.

We employ 20,000 people (on par with the NI Creative Tech Sector)  making up almost 3% of all employment in NI. We’re also a key part of the employment ecosystem that allows our TV and Film industry to flourish. 

We consistently demonstrate that we are a safe and profitable economic and social investment -almost doubling the total £13 million ACNI budget in the Gross Value Added from our activities - to the tune of £24 million per year.

That sounds like a pretty good deal to me. 

If this is what we’re achieving while living on scraps, the demonstrable return on increased, fair investment would be financially and socially monumental. 

Meaningful, increased investment has the power to be an economic and social driver for growth and prosperity. 

Strengthened investment will repair a damaged strand of our social fabric and ensure that artists and arts workers are paid in line with their skills and experience. 

So, are you up for the challenge?
We’re definitely ready for a boost.

I would welcome a meeting with you over the coming months to talk it through, and would  love to invite you to a Belfast Ensemble event in London or Belfast over the coming season. 

Wishing you the very best success in your new position. 

Yours sincerely, 

Andrew Hume
Executive Producer - Belfast Ensemble