DCAL boss claims credit for culture triumph

A SENIOR civil servant in the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) told the Stormont Culture committee its "very significant contribution" to the arts infrastructure in Londonderry did no small service to the city's successful City of Culture bid.

Deputy Secretary at DCAL Dr Edgar Jardine made the comments during a bleak presentation on the financial pressures being placed on his Department as a consequence of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).

The committee was informed of the pressures of achieving savings of 3 per cent and 5 per cent year on year throughout the current CSR period 2007-2010.

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Equally the committee heard DCAL Head of Finance Michael O’Dowd’s view that: “We have to face the fact that front line services will inevitably be affected by any Budget cuts throughout the next Budget period.”

But Dr Jardine did allude to recent successful initiatives such as the joint development of tourism infrastructure in Londonderry and Belfast in tandem with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI).

He said the investment is likely to have made a significant contribution to the city’s recent success in the UK City of Culture bid.

“It is important to offer tourists things to during the day and in the evening.

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“In that regard, we have made a very significant contribution to the arts infrastructure in Belfast and Londonderry,” said Dr Jardine.

Furthermore he said he doubted Londonderry would have been able to pull off the victory without DCAL’s help.

“I am sure that our contribution was not insignificant in the success of the Derry/Londonderry bid to become UK City of Culture. I doubt that that bid would have been successful without our investment,” he added.

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