750,000 Euro allocated to develop arthouse cinemas in Ireland

John O' Donoghue, Irish Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, has announced that the Cultural Cinema Consortium has offered capital funding, valued at €750,000 each, towards art house cinema development of the Limerick Filmhouse (developed through the Belltable Arts Centre) and the Kino in Cork.
The Cultural Cinema Consortium is a joint initiative of the Arts Council and the Irish Film Board. Congratulating the two state agencies on their cooperative work on this venture, Minister O’Donoghue said: “As an art form, cinema is capable of reaching audiences in all parts of the country. This funding will ensure greater access for Irish people to international, classic and Irish films.”
Mick Hannigan, Managing Director of the Kino in Cork gave his reaction: “We are delighted to receive this funding from the Consortium as it will allow us to build on the audiences we have and attract new audiences for world cinema in the Cork region”.
John Horgan, representing Limerick Filmhouse said: “This is great for Limerick. We have very passionate audiences for art house cinema in the county and a demand for greater accessibility. This funding will mean we can expand and meet these needs”.
The Cultural Cinema Consortium was created in 2001, as one of the results of the influential report Developing Cultural Cinema in Ireland, published in 2001 by the Arts Council. Among its various objectives, the Consortium aims to foster an attractive investment environment for exhibiting art house film. The capital funding to Cork and Limerick, which were made following a public tendering process, are designed to improve opportunities for regional cinema operators to develop multi-screen operations to enhance and expand the range of cinema available around Ireland. The capital funding awarded will allow both the Limerick Filmhouse and Kino to undertake planned expansion of their activities without undermining the stability of their operations.
With the announcement of the first round of funding, the Consortium today indicated that 12 noon on Friday 19 December would be the deadline for receipt of applications for the second round of art house cinema capital investment.
(GB)