Waterford artists and popular festival nab almost €700,000 in funding

Seven artists and arts organisations in Waterford will share €677,500 in funding, the Arts Council has announced.

The Arts Council announced the 218 recipients of the Arts Grant Funding scheme, representing an investment of €17.1 million to support arts activities across Ireland. The number of successful applications is up from 194 last year.

The Waterford recipients are:

- Goma Gallery Of Modern Art Waterford: €78,000

- Lismore Castle Arts: €40,000

- Lismore Music Festival: €150,000

- Theatre Lovett: €205,000

- Tolka Journal: €60,000

- Waterford Music: €14,500

- Waterford Youth Arts: €130,000

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Arts Grant Funding is one of a number of competitive funding schemes through which the Arts Council invests in artists, organisations and arts infrastructure.

It supports individual artists and organisations, across various artforms, to carry out multiple activities over a fixed period and focuses on ensuring there is a breadth of high-quality arts activity and programmes throughout the country. This round of funding relates to arts activities planned for 2026.

The announcement comes at a time of unprecedented demand for the Arts Council’s funding schemes, with 7,568 eligible applications received across all schemes last year.

Maura McGrath, Chair of the Arts Council, said: "Arts Grant Funding is a vital strand of our broader investment in the national arts infrastructure. It enables ambitious, sustained artistic work that connects communities across Ireland. As demand continues to grow, we're proud to support this year's recipients—but we also know many strong applications could not be funded. We will continue to advocate for the increased resources our vibrant sector urgently needs."