Irish Gov't Ombudsman and SIPO called on to investigate Project Arts Centre for promoting abortion
Appalling use of Irish taxpayer-funded arts project to promote abortion must stop!
Appalling use of Irish taxpayer-funded arts project to promote abortion must stop!
In the last week, the Project Arts Centre, a publicly-funded promoter of contemporary art in Temple Bar, seemingly got into the shameful business of promoting abortion. By allowing the walls of their premises to become a propaganda canvass for the so-called "graffiti artist" Maser, the Project Arts Centre seemingly became a campaigning organisation overnight.
The slogan, ironically encased in a loveheart, is: "Repeal the 8th", which is a direct reference to the 8th Amendment, the Pro-Life Amendment in the Irish Constitution, which gives protections to both the mother and the unborn child, "with due regard for the life of each".
Specifically, with regard to the Project Arts Centre's involvement in this blatant promotion of life-destroying abortion in Ireland, there are two issues at play:
1) Organisations, in receipt of a single donation totalling more than €100, are required to register with the Irish Standards in Public Office (SIPO), as a "Third Party", subjecting them to onerous reporting of donations, etc. According to the SIPO website, the Project Arts Centre is not now registered.
2) The Project Arts Centre receives a full two-thirds of its massive €2.4M budget from public bodies (i.e., the Irish Taxpayer). The Project Arts Centre could literally not keep their doors open if it were not for the Irish Taxpayer. So, not only is it brazenly shameful to use the public's money to promote a position contrary to that of the Constitution itself, it may also be violating the stipulations of the grants which give funding from the aforementioned public bodies (like, the Arts Council, for example) to the Project Arts Centre.
For these two reasons, this petition demands that the Project Arts Council immediately remove (or, have removed) the offensive graffiti from the walls of its premises, or be subject to investigations and reporting requirements from both SIPO and the Irish Government Ombudsman.
Therefore, this petition is addressed to the Secretary of SIPO, Mr Paddy Walsh, and to Irish Government Ombudsman, Mr Peter Tyndall. It is also Cc'ed to Ms Claire O'Neill, the General Manager of the Project Arts Centre.
Since it is possible that the Project Arts Centre has unwittingly been used (or, had its arm twisted) to promote the terrible scourge of abortion, the immediate removal of this graffiti would resolve the issue as to whether or not the Centre is actually a bona fide "Third Party" propagandist, or just a naive fellow-traveller.
Either way, this promotion of abortion, by a majority publicly-funded project, should come to an end with immediate effect.
Thank you for signing this urgent petition.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.newstalk.com/Irish-graffiti-artist-Maser-creates-Repeal-the-8th-mural-in-Temple-Bar
The most recent Audited Accounts for the Project Arts Centre (see p. 19) - http://projectartscentre.ie/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ProjectArtsCentre-AUDITED-ACCOUNTS2013.pdf
SIPO on "Third Parties" - http://www.sipo.gov.ie/en/Forms/Third-Party-Forms/
SIPO Register of Third Parties - http://www.sipo.gov.ie/Website/en/Reports/Register-of-Third-Parties/
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Project Arts Centre: Remove pro-abortion graffiti from building, or face Gov't defunding and SIPO investigation
For the Kind Attention of the Ombudsman of the Irish Government and the SIPO Secretary, Mr Paddy Walsh:
Cc'ed to the General Manager of the Project Arts Centre, Ms Claire O'Neill
From the latest Audited Accounts of the Project Arts Centre (p. 19), it appears that a full 66% of their €2.4M budget comes directly from public sources, including €785K from The Arts Council, roughly €757K from other "Cultural Agencies", and €27K from Dublin City Council.
In essence, this means that the Project Arts Centre is a publicly-funded funded body, and could not survive another minute without the Irish Taxpayer funding their work. They literally couldn't inhabit the fancy building, where they now reside, without public funding.
For this reason, it is a gross misuse of their facilities to allow pro-abortion graffiti, directly calling for the repeal of the 8th Amendment (the Pro-Life Amendment in the Irish Constitution), to disgrace the side of their prominent building in Temple Bar.
We, the undersigned, are, therefore, calling on the Project Arts Centre to remove this offensive graffiti immediately, or face public enquiries by the Irish Government Ombudsman, Mr Peter Tyndall, and, or by SIPO Secretary, Mr Paddy Walsh, on the grounds that they are now operating as political "third party,".
As SIPO Guidelines specify, third parties, "...promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the interests of a third party in connection with the conduct or management of any campaign conducted with a view to promoting or procuring a particular outcome in relation to a policy or policies or functions of the Government or any public authority...".
Thank you for your urgent attention to this request.
Project Arts Centre: Remove pro-abortion graffiti from building, or face Gov't defunding and SIPO investigation
For the Kind Attention of the Ombudsman of the Irish Government and the SIPO Secretary, Mr Paddy Walsh:
Cc'ed to the General Manager of the Project Arts Centre, Ms Claire O'Neill
From the latest Audited Accounts of the Project Arts Centre (p. 19), it appears that a full 66% of their €2.4M budget comes directly from public sources, including €785K from The Arts Council, roughly €757K from other "Cultural Agencies", and €27K from Dublin City Council.
In essence, this means that the Project Arts Centre is a publicly-funded funded body, and could not survive another minute without the Irish Taxpayer funding their work. They literally couldn't inhabit the fancy building, where they now reside, without public funding.
For this reason, it is a gross misuse of their facilities to allow pro-abortion graffiti, directly calling for the repeal of the 8th Amendment (the Pro-Life Amendment in the Irish Constitution), to disgrace the side of their prominent building in Temple Bar.
We, the undersigned, are, therefore, calling on the Project Arts Centre to remove this offensive graffiti immediately, or face public enquiries by the Irish Government Ombudsman, Mr Peter Tyndall, and, or by SIPO Secretary, Mr Paddy Walsh, on the grounds that they are now operating as political "third party,".
As SIPO Guidelines specify, third parties, "...promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the interests of a third party in connection with the conduct or management of any campaign conducted with a view to promoting or procuring a particular outcome in relation to a policy or policies or functions of the Government or any public authority...".
Thank you for your urgent attention to this request.
