Minister for Culture and Arts Patrick O'Donovan has said that the Arts Council should consider revising how they assess grant applications and warned that comedians and country musicians have been "frozen out".
He told Prime Time it was within his power to "impose a policy will on the Arts Council" but he hoped the organisation would act "without the need for the minister to have to tell them".
Several comedians and country musicians who spoke to Prime Time said they feel shut out of many current grant schemes, and comedy groups like Foil Arms & Hog have lobbied to have the criteria revised.
Comedy is not expressly listed as a priority in the Arts Act and comedians say they, as a result, are not given direct subsidies. Music is included in the act but in practice country artists say they do not feel encouraged to apply.
The comments will be welcomed by acts who – like Foil Arms & Hog - have previously been rejected for funding.
In 2015, the comedy sketch trio applied to Culture Ireland for a grant to bring a show to the United States. The emailed response from the body, which operates within the Department of Culture, advised the group that comedy is "not deemed an art form" and ineligible for support.
"It's just a bit insulting, really," Sean 'Foil' Finegan told Prime Time.
"What if a play is funny? Where did you draw the line," Sean 'Hog' Flanagan added.
"We decided if we can't be with the arts, we'll align ourselves with the sciences. We're going for PhD funding now," Mr Finegan joked. "You can't come back from that email, really. The door was closed."
The trio has forged a successful career and credit Covid payments and other State support as part of that journey, but say the rejection as artists stings.
"There's an art to making something look ‘in the moment’ or chaotic and people think that that's unplanned or it's easy. But if you've been to a bad comedy gig, you know the difference," Conor ‘Arms’ McKenna said.
MC of the Craic Den Comedy Club in Dublin city centre, Damo Clark was also refused a grant application a number of years ago.
"The response was a lot of words to say ‘no, sorry,’" he told Prime Time. "Comedy is an art form. It's writing, performing, directing all in one," he argued, adding that the current political climate lends even more weight to the argument for inclusion.
"You’ve got some of the most powerful people in the world cancelling comedians," he said.
Opera, literature and circus performance are specifically named in the Arts Act, and Sinn Féin’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh has tabled a bill to amend the legislation to include comedy.
Dublin comic Ailish McCarthy, who spearheaded the campaign said the Arts Council needed to "put their money where their mouth is" with an explicit inclusion of comedy.
"That’s the recognition we want," Ms McCarthy said, adding that comedians were willing to work with the organisation to expand its in-house knowledge.
"We need to see concrete evidence that grants are being given to comedians. We want the same access as anybody else."
The Arts Council told Prime Time it funds all different types of arts and pointed out that while comedy is currently funded in combination with other art forms, and through the money that festivals and venues get, the door isn’t closed to direct applications from comedians too.
"We are always open to a conversation about what the arts cover because we have to be. The discussion about culture and arts needs to be alive and it needs to be propelled by forward motion," Liz Meaney, Performing Arts Director with the Arts Council said.
"We fund 50 arts centres and over 200 festivals across the whole of the country. Comedy has been included in the programmes of those organisations," she added.
Country musicians The Ennis Brothers would love to give up their day jobs and play music full-time, but say the costs associated with playing gigs means the dream of a professional career is out of reach for now.
When the twin brothers researched the possibility of obtaining a grant to record some of their original songs, they felt discouraged.
"Our friend is an uilleann player and she got a grant. She's absolutely incredible and deserves it but when we looked into it didn't feel like it was something that was open to ourselves," Matthew Ennis said.
"It would seem to be more focused on traditional music," his brother Owen explained. "We're songwriters, performers, musicians and entertainers. We are the definition of an artist."
Despite the perception that country music is commercially successful, Jackie Conboy, Co-Founder of the Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland, said many artists are not making a living.
"There are a handful of acts that can get people in the door, but there’s a lot of musicians struggling. They have to pay for a van, crew, transport and accommodation which has become more expensive.
"For new artists to be able to afford a band it’s virtually impossible."
The closure of venues since the pandemic and reluctance of some older people to attend crowded gigs has also affected revenues, he added.
Asked about comedy and country music, Minister O’Donovan said "these are really important art forms. Everybody has to feel part of the tent but at the moment they simply don't".
"Comedy is something that Irish entertainers do better than anybody else in the world," he said, adding that he counted himself among the thousands of country music fans in Ireland.
The minister said that under legislation he could impose a policy on the Arts Council but that he hoped it would respond to his observations on "inclusivity rather than exclusivity" and act without his direction.
In the meantime, as announced this week in Budget 2026, the Government's basic income scheme for artists is set to become a permanent fixture. From next year, 2,000 places will be made available.
Speaking to Prime Time in the wake of that announcement, Minister O’Donovan said there was "absolutely no reason" why comedians and country musicians couldn’t apply.
In a statement, Culture Ireland, the body that funds artists to tour and perform overseas, said it "supports the international presentation of artists in all art forms as set out in the Arts Act," adding that while all genres of music, including country music, are eligible to apply for its funding, it does not currently support comedy.
Liz Meaney, Performing Arts Director at the Arts Council, said it was excited by the political discussions around different art forms being promoted and supported.
"I think it is possible that the Arts Act will change, but also we are developing our own research looking at the genres we are supporting."
The organisation has experienced an explosion of applications for grants as a result of the pandemic. Typically, 2,000 applications were received before the pandemic, whereas that figure is now more than 8,000.
"I think our supports have become more apparent to people. I would say to comedians, to country musicians, and to other artists and other art forms, come and talk to us. We want to have those conversations," Ms Meaney said.
Reporter Louise Byrne and producer Tara Peterman’s full report on arts funding will be broadcast on the 9 October edition of Prime Time on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 9.35pm.
