Sorcha Fox and Donal O'Kelly in Fishamble's Little Thing, Big Thing. (Photo: Pat Redmond)

Touring Policy 2010–2015

The Arts Council has adopted a new policy for touring, to be delivered over the six-year period 2010–2015. While recognising that a number of benefits will flow from a well-resourced policy for touring, the Council wishes to prioritise addressing the needs of regional audiences. The primary purpose of the Arts Council’s touring policy will therefore be to ensure that regional audiences have access to high quality arts experiences in a number of art forms.

The principal focus of the policy is that the Arts Council will provide specific supports for audience-focused touring. In this context, audience focused touring is described as constituting the extent to which those involved accept responsibility for ensuring an audience for the touring work. This responsibility includes a prerequisite that all involved agree their respective roles with regard to artistic and marketing issues and the essential requirement to share commercial risk. 

The Touring Experiment

The Touring Experiment (TTE) was a research project which was initiated by the Arts Council in 2006. The project was the first of its kind in Ireland, and the purpose was to gather quality information about touring the arts in this country. The finished project is an unprecedented body of work which will inform the strategic development of touring the arts into the future.

The Touring Experiment was an ‘action research’ project. Action research involves practitioners as participants in the process and as researchers and contributors in their own right. The Touring Experiment included the direct involvement of multiple touring practitioners; 49 tours across six artforms plus one project which researched the impact of increased public relations and technical expertise on touring productions.

Touring policy 2010-2015

Download touring policy 2010-2015 (0.04 MB, Word)

A future for arts touring in Ireland 2010-2015

Report - A future for arts touring in Ireland 2010-2015 (0.24 MB, PDF)

Appendix 1 - A review of touring policy from 1970s to 2000 (0.15 MB, PDF)

Appendix 2 - Dance Tour Case Study - Dance Theatre of Ireland - Slow Down.pdf (0.14 MB, PDF)

Appendix 3 - Music tour case study - Early music group Armoniosa - For several friends (0.14 MB, PDF)

Appendix 4 - Theatre tour case study Nomad Network and Livin' Dred (0.1 MB, PDF)

Appendix 5 - Visual arts tour case study exhibition surface tension (0.1 MB, PDF)

Appendix 6 - Summary of 50 research meetings by The Touring Experiment with tour producers (0.06 MB, PDF)

Appendix 7 - Audience attitudes and behaviour (phases I to III)

Appendix 8 -  Detailed analyses and findings in six art forms (This appendix is confidential for commercial reasons. For access, please contact the Head of Venues at the Arts Council.)

Appendix 9 - Comparative analysis (conditions for artists) in dance, music, theatre and traditional arts (1.2 MB, PDF)

Appendix 10 - Research agenda options for future research related to audiences and touring (0.05 MB, PDF)

Appendix 11 - Tour distribution maps by art form and location

Appendix 12 - Mediamarket - media analysis and evaluation report (2.4 MB, PDF)

Appendix 13 - Acknowledgements (0.04 MB, PDF)

Appendix 14 -  References (0.04 MB, PDF)