Arts Council apologises after mistakenly awarding over €3 MILLION in grants

The Arts Council of Ireland has apologised after mistakenly awarding a €25,000 grant to over 140 people. 

The embarrassing error was made yesterday (June 28), when letters were issued to 141 applicants informing them of their success in receiving the Next Generation Artists award. 

The award offers a maximum grant of €25,000 to twenty promising artists across all disciplines at early but pivotal stages in their careers. 

In a statement following the blunder, the Arts Council today (June 29) stated, "The Arts Council yesterday made a regrettable error. We issued letters to 141 applicants for the Next Generation Artists award, incorrectly indicating that an award would be granted. We then emailed all affected to inform them of our error and we apologised unreservedly. 

"Our mistake has understandably caused upset and disappointment and, for this, we are truly sorry We have now put in place additional checks for the issue of decision letters to prevent a repeat of this error. 
 
"Supporting artists is a core goal of the Arts Council and we sincerely apologise to the artists that we let down on this occasion. For any further questions or concerns, please email awards@artscouncil.ie." 

The Arts Council yesterday made a regrettable error.
We issued letters to 141 applicants for the Next Generation Artists award, incorrectly indicating that an award would be granted.
We then emailed all affected to inform them of our error and we apologised unreservedly. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/xpfComqVe1

— The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon (@artscouncil_ie) June 29, 2023

The Artists' Union of Ireland, Praxis, responded to the apology with their own statement, which read: "We received word today that 100+ artists in Ireland received an email from the Arts Council of Ireland saying they were receiving one of 20 Next Generation Awards. They then received an email rescinding the award without an adequate apology for the mistake. 

"The level of distress that this has caused highlights the financial precarity we face. As artists we know Arts Council awards like this are a primary source of income. We can only imagine the sense of relief these artists felt when they thought they were funded. 
 
"We offer our solidarity with the artists this has affected. We want to remind you that we are here as a union to support our members. We are actively working to improve conditions in the sector and develop a more stable working environment for all artists in Ireland." 

We received word today that 100+ artists in Ireland received an email from the Arts Council of Ireland saying they were receiving one of 20 Next Generation Awards. They then received an email rescinding the award without an adequate apology for the mistake. pic.twitter.com/eSKdcAfE3H

— Praxis - Artists' Union of Ireland (@Praxis_Union) June 28, 2023

Artists also expressed their frustrations with the unfortunate situation online, with writer Trudie Gorman stating, "Today the [Arts Council] emailed me saying I had been awarded €25k through the Next Gen award. They then emailed to say "ignore that, it was an error." I am beyond heartbroken. I thought I'd finally escaped poverty. I had hope." 

Another hopeful also commented online, stating, "Big thanks to the Arts Council for emailing me at 4pm to say I'd been awarded a €25,000 grant, and then emailing me ten minutes later to say "whoops, nope, admin error!""

Poet Robin McNamara stated, "Appalling! Telling a poor unfortunate individual they are getting €25k in funding only to snatch it away right from under their noses without any idea of the consequences of your incompetence."