Galway culture strategy predicts €650 million arts boom
Galway’s first Cultural Sustainability Strategy Framework has predicted the creative sector could generate €650m in direct sales and directly employ 30,000 across the region within the next four years.
This compares with the medical devices sector in Galway – Ireland’s most important medtech cluster – which employs more than 8,370 people.
Currently there are 3,878 employed in the creative sector in Galway alone – 3.4% of the workforce in the city and county.
The 10-year strategy was created after a lengthy process of consultation over five months last year involving group meetings, 95 one-on-one consultations and several community workshops, one which attracted more than 80 people.
The final document – created before the city was designated the 2020 European City of Culture which alone brings with it the potential to grow jobs by 18,000 – declares that future growth prospects for the western region’s creative sector are potentially strong.
In the last 30 years, Galway has become home to the largest number of individuals employed in the creative sector in the West – employment is at a rate of one in every 33 jobs.
Collectively, the creative industry sector accounts for 31% of total direct employment as well as 21% of turnover.
For more on this story, see this week's Galway City Tribune