Debate contribution: Valuing the Arts
Debate contribution by Mr Matthew O'Toole on .
- MLA
- Mr Matthew O'Toole
- Party at the time
- Social Democratic and Labour Party
- Date
- 17 June 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Opposition Business
- Heading
- Valuing the Arts
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5014008
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Take it as read that we all care about the arts. Take it as read that the arts mean a lot to us. Take it as read that we all care about communities of all backgrounds being able to access culture in our constituencies. In my constituency, obviously, I have particular landmark cultural institutions, such as the Lyric Theatre. I will not spend much time listing them, because they are amazing and they know they are amazing. Of course, the Lyric Theatre won UK Theatre of the Year a few years ago, and, in a sense, it does not need all that to be celebrated. What the arts sector needs, bluntly, is more support. We had a round table with the sector upstairs earlier on, and the all-party group on arts, which I sat on for a long time, engages consistently with the sector. The artists, whose day job is making the best and most impactful use of words, want more than warm words; they want a funding settlement. First, I acknowledge that, a few weeks ago, the Minister uplifted the arts budget a bit, but that came after a long-term structural squeeze on the arts budget in Northern Ireland. We on this island have a particular love — grá — for the arts, but we also have a hard bottom-line need to celebrate and support the arts because it is critical to our tourism and hospitality offer. It is also why a lot of large companies want to invest and create jobs in Belfast, Derry and other places.
The Member makes a fair point about regional balance. Of course, I think—.
I am glad you said that, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker.
The Member, in his distinctive way, has made a very important point. He comes from Newry, home of Sean Hollywood, a former SDLP politician and a brilliant champion of the local arts; indeed, Doire Finn, our arts spokesperson who convened the round table today, is related to Sean Hollywood. What we heard clearly at the round table is that artists want more than warm words; they have that in their day job. They want a funding settlement that enables them to do their jobs and not have to take second and third jobs or emigrate. Yes, support the arts in our communities. Today, I want to hear a commitment from the Minister that he will at least do his best to work with the Finance Minister to produce a multi-year settlement that uplifts. I want to challenge some of the points that have been made today. It was said that austerity was a reason for the squeeze on the arts budget. Austerity was pernicious and awful, and I hope that we will eventually emerge from that era of economic thinking. However, Scotland, Wales and England all experienced austerity, as did the Republic of Ireland for many years, and our arts spending is way behind all of those places. If austerity was to blame, why are they so far ahead of us? That is the blunt point. Despite our particular love of the arts and need to support it, Northern Ireland has been frankly pathetic at funding it. We have failed our artists. We need to do better. We need to produce a multi-year plan with a specific uplift. People do not expect us to match the South overnight — that would not be realistic — but can the Minister give us at least a trajectory for a multi-year plan later this year? If he wants to make that representation to the Finance Minister, he will have the Opposition's support. We are not talking about earth-shattering amounts of money in the broad scheme of the Executive Budget over a multi-year settlement. Let us work towards increasing that so that we can celebrate our artists.
Frankly, we need that to maintain the pipeline of talent for our creative industries.
649 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.04 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.93).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.04 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.03 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.04 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.04 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.93 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Sport (including the GAA), the arts and cultural bodies | 0.82 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.13 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.02 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.01 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:48 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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