The Find Funding Tool helps you search through the different types of funding available from the Arts Council. You will be asked three questions to refine your search.

1. What best describes you? For example, are you an artist, an arts organisation, a local authority, or a small festival?
2. What artform or arts practice would you like funding for? Some funding is specific to an artform or arts practice while other funding can be applied for by any artform or arts practice. For example, Splanc! which provides funding for documentaries in Irish is for film only, while Projects: New Work can be applied for by practitioners in any artform or arts practice.
3. How much do you want to apply for?

Yes, you can make an online application for funding at the Arts Council online services website: https://onlineservices.artscouncil.ie/.  Please make sure to read the guidelines for the relevant fund before you apply.  You can find details about available Arts Council funding in the financial support section of this website.

We do our best to accommodate people with disabilities who want to submit an application or who have difficulties in accessing Online Services. We will tailor support to individual requests.

For help submitting your application, please contact the Arts Council’s Access Officer, Adrienne Martin. You can either:

• Phone Adrienne on 01 618 0219 or
• Send Adrienne an email at adrienne.martin@artscouncil.ie

Please do so at least three weeks before the award deadline, or as early as possible, as this will give Adrienne time to assist you.

In addition to the maximum amount you can apply for under awards for artists, the Arts Council will also consider access costs specifically relating to the making of work by artists with disabilities. If you wish to apply for additional funding on this basis, you will be asked to outline what these costs are as part of your application budget and supporting materials. The award guidelines provide information on how to do this.

The primary purpose of Travel and Training Inbound is to support individuals or organisations who wish to invite specialists from abroad to deliver high-level training or mentoring for the professional development of artists and others working professionally in the arts in Ireland.

Where an individual or organisation wishes to bring in such specialists from abroad, the host individual or organisation may apply for the cost of travel and accommodation for the international guest(s). Payment will be made after the visit and only upon submission of receipts.

Applicants must state whom they wish to invite and provide details of the training or mentoring to be provided.

In 2012 we made some changes to the eligibility criteria for artists working in visual arts or literature. 

You may only apply for one bursary award in any one calendar year.

This change was introduced in the context of workload reduction. Staff numbers at the Arts Council have reduced by 25% over the past four years while application levels have remained consistently high. This change to the bursary award is one of the consequences of the reduction in staff numbers. Visual arts and literature have by far the highest volume of applications for bursary.

While we accept that there will be artists that are disappointed by this change in policy it is also the case that the strategic rationale of the Arts Council, when it introduced two funding rounds for bursary, was that it allowed for artists to submit at a time that better suited their own working schedule - it was not designed as a way to give artists more opportunities to apply. It is also worth noting that some artforms (like music and film) only have one round in a year.

The Arts Council recommends that you consult with your accountant or seek advice from the Revenue Commissioner on any issues relating to tax.  The Revenue Commissioner has indicated that for those who have obtained artists exemption status under Section 195, Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997, Arts Council bursaries and cnuas payments are exempt from tax.

Tax clearance certificates are supplied by the Irish Revenue and confirm that a person's or organisation's tax affairs are in order at the date the certificate was issued. You do not need to be resident in Ireland to request a tax clearance certificate.

For instructions on requesting a certificate, please visit the Tax Clearance section on the Revenue website - http://www.revenue.ie/en/business/running/tax-clearance.html.

Your application will be considered ineligible, and returned to you, if:

• You do not fulfil the eligibility requirements;
• Your application or supporting documentation was late;
• You applied by sending an emailed or faxed application;
• You did not fully complete the application form;
• You did not include with your application all the required supporting material;
• You sent your supporting material by email, fax or in hard copy (other than specified exceptions listed in the funding guidelines);
• The proposed activity does not fit the purpose of the specific award for which you are applying;
• The proposed activity is more suitable to another award funded by the Arts Council or operated by other state agencies, including Culture Ireland, Irish Film Board, Crafts Council of Ireland;
• The artform/arts practice that is the main focus of your application is not provided for by the award and application round to which you are applying;
• The proposed activity has already taken place or will be completed before a decision is due to be made on yourapplication;
• The proposed activity is for charity fund-raising purposes, for participation in a competition, or for primarily profit-making purposes;
• The proposed activity focuses primarily on therapeutic outcomes (art therapy) as opposed to artistic outcomes that enhance health and well-being (arts and health);
• The project outlined has already been assessed by the Arts Council. An exception will be made if the Council has already advised you to redirect your application to another award. Please bear in mind that such advice is not an indication of a successful outcome.

All awards are made in a competitive environment focusing on the criteria outlined and, where relevant, specific criteria for the award. Unsuccessful applicants should consider applying again in future rounds.

Because of the competitive nature of the awards and the large number of applicants, it is not possible to make an award to all eligible and good applicants. Eligibility and compliance with criteria for assessment alone does not guarantee receipt of an award.

Yes - you can still apply for funding from the Arts Council under any funding programme. The BIA Pilot Scheme was never established as an alternative to or a replacement for Arts Council funding. As a pilot project it is testing the impact of this additional investment in the arts sector. Over the course of the pilot the Arts Council will monitor whether there are any changes in application patterns to Arts Council funding programmes. The Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme is an initiative of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Any queries about the scheme should be emailed to basicincomeforthearts@tcagsm.gov.ie.

The BIA scheme should not be identified and named as a specific source of partnership funding within an application.  If an applicant were intending to use BIA income in this way it should simply be identified within the application as a personal contribution. However, it should be noted that the Arts Council does not encourage individuals to use their own personal funds as partnership funding in support of their applications.  The Basic Income for the Arts Pilot Scheme is an initiative of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Any queries about the scheme should be emailed to basicincomeforthearts@tcagsm.gov.ie.