Former Finance Minister Mairtin O’Muilleoir
THE former Stormon Finance Minister says Derry and Belfast need 21 century art museums.
Mairtin O’Muilleoir was speaking during a fact-finding visit to Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art today.
“The excellent Belfast-Derry City of Culture 2023 bid would be boosted immeasurably by a European-standard art gallery on the scale of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Tate Liverpool, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston or, indeed, MIMA in Middlesborough,” said the Sinn Fein MLA.
“Given the enhanced capital budgets available in the North, now is the time to deliver on a proposal which has been kicking around since the 1990s.
“Fortunately, the Arts Council has already put on the agenda a bold plan to build a major permanent gallery of national and international standing dedicated to the visual arts.
“Fortuitously for the City of Culture bid, the Arts Council plan envisages twin site ‘distinct but complementary’ galleries in Belfast and Derry which would spread the benefits of the development.
“The capital cost of the twin sites was estimated at £38 million but the net economic benefit over 25 years was estimated at £140 million.
“It’s my view that a new gallery would not only be a boost to tourism in both Belfast and Derry but also demonstrate our continued commitment to putting the arts right at the centre of our society.”
The South Belfast MLA said he had written to the Art Advisory panel he established as Finance Minister, and which produced a report leading to renewed funding for the government art collection, asking that they explore how they might lead on the proposal for the new art gallery as part of the Derry-Belfast City of Culture bid.
“I will also write to my fellow MLAs in South Belfast asking them to join me in backing this approach,” added Mr O’Muilleoir.
