Art Can Make us Proud

The National Campaign for the Arts website has published the speech made by Roddy Doyle at the Theatre Forum / Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival event for Dublin TDs and Dublin City Councillors, which took place on September 24 2009.

It's called Art can make us feel proud of who we are, and in it Roddy lays out the case for how arts funding helped his career, and the career of those he worked with, to bring stories to Irish people about their lives.

Well-aimed support from the Arts Council, Culture Ireland, the Irish Film Board and from Dublin City Council can have, and does have, an enormous impact – sometimes years later. This week, one reason we feel proud of our city is because we come from the same place as Brendan Gleeson. I’m delighted – and very lucky. Because I saw – I experienced – Brendan acting in a play I wrote called BROWNBREAD. The play was produced by The Passion Machine, with support from the Arts Council, 22 years ago. I wrote it, Brendan acted in it, Paul Mercier directed it. At the risk of sounding arrogant, it was money well spent.