Department of Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht
| Department overview | |
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| Formed | 8 July 1977 |
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Headquarters | 23 Kildare Street, Dublin 2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Minister responsible | |
| Department executive |
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| Website | www |
The Department of Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht (Irish: An Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta agus Gaeltachta) is a department of the Government of Ireland. The mission of the department is to contribute to the economic, social and cultural progress of Irish society and the enrichment of its quality of life through promoting sustainable tourism; encouraging excellence in artistic achievement; facilitating greater access to the arts; and preservation of Ireland's cultural inheritance. It is led by the Minister for Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht who is assisted by two Ministers of State.
Departmental team
The official headquarters and ministerial offices of the department are at 23 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. The department also has offices in South Frederick Street in Dublin and in New Road, Killarney, County Kerry. The departmental team consists of the following:
- Minister for Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht: Heather Humphreys, TD
- Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources: TBA, TD
- Minister of State for New Communities, Culture and Equality: TBA, TD
- Secretary General of the Department: Seosamh Ó hÁghmaill
Overview
In carrying out its mandate the department undertakes a variety of functions including:
- formulation, development and evaluation of policy and structures to promote and foster the practice and appreciation of the creative and interpretative arts and to encourage the development of the Irish film industry
- enabling the national cultural institutions to preserve and protect Ireland's moveable heritage and cultural assets,
- protecting the archaeological heritage and maintaining the Archaeological Survey of Ireland,
- creating an environment enabling the National Cultural Institutions to flourish through the provision of financial resources and an appropriate policy framework
The Department is responsible for funding important Irish cultural institutions like
and organisations such as:
- Arts Council of Ireland (which also acts as the "Cultural Contact Point" to access EU cultural programme funding)
- Culture Ireland
- Heritage Council
- National Parks and Wildlife Service
History
The Minister for Economic Planning and Development was created by the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act, 1977. The title was renamed Minister for Energy by order in 1980 and again in 1993 the title changed to Minister for Tourism and Trade. Several more title changes occurred, the current title was created on 6 May 2016.
The following changes of name had corresponding to changes of function, such that the notionally continuous department has no practical identity with the earlier stages of its incarnation; it gradually acquired its current competences from other Departments of State, and lost its former competences to them.
- Department of the Gaeltacht (1956–1993)
- Department of Economic Planning and Development (1977–1980)
- Department of Energy (1980–1981)
- Department of Industry and Energy (1981–1983)
- Department of Energy (1983–1993)
- Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht (1993–1997)
- Department of Tourism and Trade (1993–1997)
- Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (1997–2002)
- Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation (1997–2002)
- Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism (2002–2010)
- Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (2002–2010)
- Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs (2010–2011)
- Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport (2010–2011)
- Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (2011–2016)[1]
- Department of Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht (2016–present)[2]
