Who’s who in the controversy over Arts Council spending

Catherine Martin

Catherine Martin was minister for tourism, culture, arts, Gaeltacht, sport and media from 2020 until January 2025. During her time as head of the department, Martin was seen as having more of an affinity for arts and culture, and the Arts Council’s budget almost doubled during that time.

In a short statement issued to The Irish Times on Friday, she seemed to suggest that the full extent of the losses from the failed IT project in the Arts Council was disclosed only last summer.

However, the Arts Council has maintained the department was kept fully aware of the progress of the project from 2021 onwards.

In a statement on Friday night, the department accepted there may have been shortfalls in reporting mechanisms. It said while there were flows of information from the Arts Council, no progress report was sent to either the minister or secretary general prior to the summer of 2024, either directly from the Arts Council or fr...
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