The Arts Council of Ireland has issued an apology after a 'regrettable error' saw 141 artists being incorrectly informed that they had been awarded a grant of €25,000.
141 artists who applied for the Arts Council's Next Generation Artists' award were informed via email that they had been successful in their application.
This was followed by a second email informing that an 'error' had been made and the information they had received was incorrect.
The Arts Council yesterday made a regrettable error.
— The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon (@artscouncil_ie) June 29, 2023
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
In a statement, the Artists' Union Of Ireland said: "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 that this has affected."
Some of the artists mistakenly offered grants took to social media to express their frustrations at the incident.
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!"
— bobby aherne (@bawwby) June 28, 2023
In a statement, the Arts Council said: "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."
They added: "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."
