A RAFT of Irish artists have received government funding to support global tours taking place this year.
The likes of Dervish, Niall McCabe and The Scratch are among them, it was announced this week, as Ireland’s Culture Minister Catherine Martin revealed a €825k funding pot to support the Irish arts abroad.
The funding, which is earmarked for the promotion of Irish arts globally through Culture Ireland’s Regular Grants Programme, will benefit 149 projects this year.
Spread across 32 countries, the grants cover circus, dance, film, literature, music, opera, theatre and the visual arts.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce this round of Culture Ireland funding,” Minister Martin said.
“These projects will generate new opportunities and audiences for Irish artists and showcase the rich and diverse offering of Irish arts globally,” she added.
Revealing the breakdown of the funding, Ms Martin’s department has confirmed that Mayo-born singer/songwriter McCabe received a €10k grant to support his tour of the US and UK, which comes to a close this month.
Dervish received €8k to support their US tour this month, which brought them to Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Kent, Buffalo, Bethlehem and Fairfie.
And Dublin band The Scratch received €7,500 to support their time spent touring in the US this month – both as a support act for The Dropkick Murphy’s North American tour and headlining four gigs of their own in the US and Canada.
The funds will also cover a range of other events and activities – including providing support for the Irish artists who are participating in the Beckett Unbound Festival in Liverpool in May and at the Return to London Town Festival in October.
Funding has also been allocated to the Irish National Opera, which will present L’Olimpiade at the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House in London, Britain and at the Théâtre Equilibre in Switzerland in May and June.