The fallout from Brexit will be felt all over the UK, but there are particular concerns in Northern Ireland, where there are fears that leaving the EU could result in greater polarisation within society due to the loss of funding for projects that support peace-building, including arts and museum initiatives.
One area of concern is what will happen when EU Peace IV funding ends in 2020. Although the UK is due to leave the EU in 2019, the government has guaranteed EU funding that is allocated before that date. The programme funds projects including shared spaces that will be used by all sections of the community.
Paddy Gilmore, the director of learning and partnership at National Museums Northern Ireland, says the organisation has been successful in the first stage of the application process for Peace IV money to tackle “issues related to sectarianism and issues around community tension and how museums explore that”.
“Brexit has set things back politically,” says Gilmore. “The work is in its infancy and needs to continue.”
Acute concerns
A report from the Creative Industries Federation published earlier this year says:
“Concern about the impact of Brexit is especially acute in Northern Ireland, where EU funding has played such a prominent role in peace-building. In turn, the arts sector has contributed to peace-building through much of its activities, and its beneficial impact in creating jobs and establishing venues in which people from all communities can meet and interact. Much of this work has been EU funded.”
One of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s key initiatives is Building Peace for the Arts – Re-Imaging Communities, which was developed through the EU’s programme for Peace and Reconciliation (Peace III).
The arts council’s annual review for 2015-16 says: “Over its three-year lifespan the [Building Peace for the Arts] programme successfully delivered 32 pieces of high-quality public art in a process designed to reconnect communities and reflect a desire for peace and reconciliation. Some 10,000 people and 120 community artists were actively involved in the programme.
“Taking the Re-Imaging initiative as a whole, including its pilot period from 2006 to 2009, the last decade has seen almost 20,000 people, nearly all new to the arts, embrace change and, through the arts, realise new possibilities and potential for their communities.”
The Westminster government continues to stress the important part the arts and heritage sectors will play after Brexit. Culture secretary Karen Bradley and the minister for exiting the EU, Robin Walker, met with representatives of 12 arts and culture organisations in January at a roundtable at Portcullis House. The ministers said that such organisations would play a key role in promoting the country abroad after Brexit.
Christoph Jankowski, the head of culture for England at Creative Europe Desk UK, which provides EU funding to cultural projects, says UK applicants will be able to apply for Creative Europe funding until the UK leaves the EU.
“Leaving the EU may not necessarily mean the end of participation in Creative Europe for the UK,” he says. “There are 10 non-EU countries that participate in Creative Europe, so it’s up to negotiations to determine whether the UK can.
“The British Council, which has operated in Europe since 1938, sees plenty of scope for continued, even intensified, cultural cooperation across EU nations following Brexit.
One area of concern is what will happen when EU Peace IV funding ends in 2020. Although the UK is due to leave the EU in 2019, the government has guaranteed EU funding that is allocated before that date. The programme funds projects including shared spaces that will be used by all sections of the community.
Paddy Gilmore, the director of learning and partnership at National Museums Northern Ireland, says the organisation has been successful in the first stage of the application process for Peace IV money to tackle “issues related to sectarianism and issues around community tension and how museums explore that”.
“Brexit has set things back politically,” says Gilmore. “The work is in its infancy and needs to continue.”
Acute concerns
A report from the Creative Industries Federation published earlier this year says:
“Concern about the impact of Brexit is especially acute in Northern Ireland, where EU funding has played such a prominent role in peace-building. In turn, the arts sector has contributed to peace-building through much of its activities, and its beneficial impact in creating jobs and establishing venues in which people from all communities can meet and interact. Much of this work has been EU funded.”
One of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s key initiatives is Building Peace for the Arts – Re-Imaging Communities, which was developed through the EU’s programme for Peace and Reconciliation (Peace III).
The arts council’s annual review for 2015-16 says: “Over its three-year lifespan the [Building Peace for the Arts] programme successfully delivered 32 pieces of high-quality public art in a process designed to reconnect communities and reflect a desire for peace and reconciliation. Some 10,000 people and 120 community artists were actively involved in the programme.
“Taking the Re-Imaging initiative as a whole, including its pilot period from 2006 to 2009, the last decade has seen almost 20,000 people, nearly all new to the arts, embrace change and, through the arts, realise new possibilities and potential for their communities.”
The Westminster government continues to stress the important part the arts and heritage sectors will play after Brexit. Culture secretary Karen Bradley and the minister for exiting the EU, Robin Walker, met with representatives of 12 arts and culture organisations in January at a roundtable at Portcullis House. The ministers said that such organisations would play a key role in promoting the country abroad after Brexit.
Christoph Jankowski, the head of culture for England at Creative Europe Desk UK, which provides EU funding to cultural projects, says UK applicants will be able to apply for Creative Europe funding until the UK leaves the EU.
“Leaving the EU may not necessarily mean the end of participation in Creative Europe for the UK,” he says. “There are 10 non-EU countries that participate in Creative Europe, so it’s up to negotiations to determine whether the UK can.
“The British Council, which has operated in Europe since 1938, sees plenty of scope for continued, even intensified, cultural cooperation across EU nations following Brexit.