Arts Plan 2012-2016 - Offaly County Council

8offaly county councilECONOMICThe economic context in which this plan isbeing delivered is unprecedented incomparison to the previous plan. We are in thethroes of a recession with measures of austerityin public finances and service delivery set tocontinue over the majority of this plan. Howlocal authorities will continue to support localcultural development is uncertain. However, wedo know that much has been highlighted interms of the significance of supporting the artsduring this time, for its multiple values acrosscultural tourism, the creative industries, nationalreputation and community development. Wealso know that arts and culture is credited tocontributing to a growth in innovation 2 and thatthe estimated turnover for investment in the artsis approx 120%. 3With this in mind, we have focussed a chapteron Economic Value as one of our StrategicAreas, which highlights the value ofconcentrating strategically on culturaldevelopment.DEMOGRAPHICThe population of Offaly is 76,806 and ofTullamore is 14, 409 with Tullamore predicted tohold a quarter of the county population by2016 4 . The Midlands (Offaly, Laois, Longford,and Westmeath) boasts the biggest percentagepopulation increase in the country. Its currentpopulation of 251,664 represents a 12.1%increase on previous figures.Predicted population growths for Offaly; 82,114by 2016 and 86,771 by 20222. Innovation Ireland - The Smart Economy. Report of the Innovation Taskforce, March 2010 www.innovationtaskforce.ie3. Total funding committed by the Arts Council to organisations and individuals amounted to 60.3 million in 2010. The estimatedturnover of the Arts Council funded organisations and individuals in 2010 as stated, was 135m – Source Arts Council’s Assessmentof the Economic Impact of the Arts in Ireland’ Indecon Report 2011.4. Offaly County Development Plan 2009 to 2015