Ireland's creative development: Local authority strategies for culture-led development

This paper addresses specific gaps in our understanding of practice and policy concerning culture and local and regional development in Ireland. It is a country in which the development impacts of cultural policy are of increasing importance, yet the state of knowledge and policy in terms of the arts and culture remains underdeveloped. The paper provides an overview of European strategies for culture-led development, and reviews the increasing importance of culture and creativity within strategies for development in Ireland. It then presents an analysis of a questionnaire survey of Irish local authorities concerning their use of culture as a tool of development. This analysis identifies a marked enthusiasm for cultural development in Ireland, especially in a rural context, but also suggests a neglect of economic development objectives and the need for a more refined approach to social development.