THE ARTS COUNCIL will make supports available for comedy and comedians in upcoming funding rounds.

The Arts Council is the national government agency for funding, developing and promoting the arts in Ireland.

In a statement to The Journal, the Arts Council said it is “proactively reviewing our grant schemes and programmes for 2026” in order to “fund and support comedy and comedians”

The Arts Council spokesperson added that it is in the process of procuring external advisory support for comedy.

“This advisory model is used by us across artforms to ensure we are fully informed so that policy is developed and applications are assessed by those familiar with the practice in each area,” added the spokesperson.

The Arts Council said this new work is supported by findings from a recent independent research report on art forms in Ireland, which will be published early next year.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson remarked that the Arts Council currently funds comedy through its bursaries, festivals, and Culture Night and Arts Centres which “routinely feature comedy in their programmes”.

It added that comedy and comedians “can also be supported through Local Authority Arts Offices, who we are partnered with to develop and deliver support at a local level”.

Sinn Féin’s spokesperson for Arts and Culture, Aengus Ó Snodaigh welcomed the decision and remarked that the “Arts Council has seen sense and done the right thing”. 

“A much-loved artform whose roots can be traced back to the satire of Gaelic Ireland is now recognised and will be supported to develop and thrive,” he added.

Ó Snodaigh also praised the “Trojan campaigning” by comedian Ailish McCarthy.

“I congratulate her and the other comedians who passionately made their case for inclusion to TDs and Senators only last month as my Comedy Bill was debated in the Dáil.”

Comedy Bill

In 2024, Ó Snodaigh introduced the Arts (Recognition of Comedy) (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to include comedy to the list of art forms.

But last month, Minister for Culture and Arts Patrick O’Donovan proposed a timed amendment of 18 months to the bill.

“After Minister O’Donovan not only refused to issue any direction, but bizarrely delayed the progress of my bill by 18 months despite publicly stating he supported its aims, there was palpable disappointment from comedians and a fear that this would be put on the long finger,” said Ó Snodaigh.

He added: “Thankfully, that has not happened, and I thank those in the Arts Council who took this decision in spite of Minister O’Donovan’s lack of leadership.

Meanwhile, Ó Snodaigh called on Culture Ireland to “follow the Arts Council’s example”.

He claimed that Culture Ireland has been “happy to use Irish comedians in their social media content but not happy to fund them as artists”.

“Hopefully this decision will mean that Ireland’s aspiring artists of the future in comedy, so often forced to go abroad to train and make a living, will be able to build a career for themselves at home, and we can stop losing our talent.”