Show latest news, more from September 2009.
Creative industries benefit from £5million boost
Culture, Arts and Leisure Minister, Nelson McCausland, today (23rd September) joined Roisín McDonough, Chair of the Creative Industries Innovation Fund Consortium and Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, to announce the opening of the latest round of funding through the £5 million Creative Industries Innovation Fund.
They were joined at a special reception at the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Belfast – one of the local businesses to have benefitted from the fund - by members of the local creative industries, including craft businesses, software developers, publishing, film, video and music organisations.
85 local businesses and sectoral bodies have already benefitted from the £2.4 million invested so far through the Creative Industries Fund, which was launched in October 2008. The remainder of the fund will be distributed by the Arts Council by March 2011.
The £5 million Creative Industries Innovation Fund was launched last year to strengthen the creative industries across Northern Ireland and to boost their capacity to realise their potential. It provides seed funding to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship, expand skills and knowledge, develop new markets, and support existing and emerging creative enterprises to grow their businesses, particularly into global markets.
Speaking at the event, Arts Minister Nelson McCausland said: “The support and development of the Creative Industries in Northern Ireland is one of my department’s main priorities.
“The creative industries are diverse and have the potential to generate significant and long lasting economic benefits for Northern Ireland.
“We need to support our creative businesses and give creative entrepreneurs the chance to exploit their skills, talents and ideas.
“The Creative Industries Innovation Fund will play an important role. I hope that these awards will be the spur for our creative entrepreneurs to take their businesses to the next level.”
Roisín McDonough, Chair of the Creative Industries Innovation Fund Consortium and Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, spoke about the importance of the funding programme.
She said: “The creative industries are steadily moving to the frontline of our economic and future success. Comparison with the UK and Ireland shows that our creative industries are making a significant contribution to income and employment, but we have a bit of catching up still to do. The Creative Industries Innovation Fund is starting to bridge the gap with seed funding to plug any skills gaps and develop the sector.
“The ingredients for success in the creative industries are all here in Northern Ireland. We have the resources, the talent, the ingenuity and the belief in ourselves to compete successfully in the creative industries world market.”
The international who's who in cultural policy, planning and research >