Fleadh funding reinstated

BY ÁINE Ní BHRIAIN

Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly has applauded a decision to address the shortfall in funding experienced by two community festivals in north Belfast. The announcement comes nearly a week after a meeting between organisers of the Ardoyne and New Lodge festivals and the British Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Angela Smith. The urgent sit-down was requested after funding for both festivals was unceremoniously pulled just days before they were to be launched, leaving organisers in a financial crisis.

Kelly says the decision, which is being hailed as a victory for community groups, came after a cross-departmental approach was taken to address the issue.

"Those concerned have been informed that an agreement in priniciple was given to deal with the shortfall in funding," said Kelly this week. "However, it needs to be delivered with the utmost urgency. We argued for a review to address the issue of sustainable and permanent funding for the Festivals and this is now to happen. This is an essential step if we are not to go from crisis to crisis each year."

Festival organisers had been shocked and confused when their usual benefactors - the Belfast Regeneration Office (BRO) and Belfast City Council - announced that a request for funds had been refused for the first time in nine years.

"We had been turned down under the same policy for the same things that had been funded in the past," said festival organizer Irene Sherry. "It was a very worrying development."

The highly successful festivals in the New Lodge and Ardoyne areas of north Belfast entertain and accommodate more than 100,000 people each year.

"Given the excellent community and arts structure of both these festivals, this is a welcome boost to everyone and to those who work hard year in and year out to ensure that these festivals can continue to grow and thrive and be a thoroughly enjoyable experience," said Gerry Kelly.