New council handout for Mac as city arts venue requests £40k

A MAJOR arts venue has asked Belfast City Council to give it £40,000.

The Metropolitan Arts Centre (Mac) was opened in the Cathedral Quarter in 2012 at a cost of almost £18m.

However, it has faced a rocky road, including a big bill in 2015 to repair the building’s distinctive basalt cladding.

In January 2016 it asked the council, one of its funders, for extra cash. Now it has returned seeking a new bailout.

The council’s strategic policy and resources committee agreed to provide the £40,000 on the basis that meetings take place between councillors, the Mac, Arts Council and Department for Communities “to ensure sustainability and enhance cultural and arts offering to local and international audiences”.

It also agreed that any further funding requests “only be considered in the context of the business case which had been presented to the Arts Council and the Department for Communities”.

The Mac’s request for the cash will have to be formally passed at a meeting of the full council on Monday evening.

The Mac said: “We have been engaged with council and other relevant stakeholders over recent months.

“These discussions are a constant feature of our financial planning and we are grateful to the council for their partnership approach and their willingness to help us map out our long-term strategy.

“Since we opened our doors in 2012 the Mac has met and exceeded all targets in terms of numbers of visitors from within and outside Northern Ireland, and the quality of our exhibitions and shows.

“We are already looking forward to fully supporting the exciting bid from Belfast to become the designated European Capital of Culture in 2023 along with Derry & Strabane Council.

“The Mac was born from a partnership approach which involved the Executive, local government and the Arts Council.

“We have always been sustained through our commercial activities, our own fundraising, as well as public funding, and the engagement with the council which led to this decision reflects that prevailing funding mix.

“Our positive engagement with the Arts Council, the Department for Communities and Belfast City Council continues.”