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= National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) Ireland = NCFA (National Campaign for the Arts) Ireland was established in 2009. The NCFA website states its purpose as ensuring that all the arts are kept on the agendas of local and national government as a vital part of contemporary life in Ireland.

Background
NCFA is supported by donations and membership is open to all and anyone can choose to donate financially or help by self-organising locally to support or amplify national campaigns. NCFA was initiated at the height of the Irish financial crisis, the campaign started in response to a government public expenditure review, known colloquially as the McCarthy Report, that recommended extensive cuts and changes affecting all of the arts infrastructure. The campaign website states that if these recommendations had been followed they "would have devastated the cultural infrastructure and had profound consequences for arts provision in Ireland". A core Steering Group is supported by working groups dedicated to policy research and member mobilisation. These roles are voluntary and unpaid. Secretariat support is provided by the performing arts membership organisation Theatre Forum. NCFA's purpose includes advocacy research and lobbying activities. Consequently, it was registered with the Standards in Public Office (SIPO).

Purpose
There are four strategic areas of campaign activity: In 2013, a Discussion Paper commissioned by NCFA analyses the role of policy, action and research in making change happen in these areas. A series of public colloquies were run in Dublin, Kilkenny and Galway that thematically addressed questions about the where the arts stand in relation to matters of participation, access and engagement; evidence; value; and education.
 * a better evidence base for better policy on the arts;
 * a more meaningful public conversation about the arts;
 * building shared intention across the arts sector;
 * supporting the mutuality of the arts and education.

Campaigns
In June 2012, NCFA succeeded in bringing the case for the arts into the Dáil and Seanad through a private members debate conducted over two days. In April 2013, NCFA published a Strategy and Position Paper on the role of research in effecting change. In April 2014, during the run up to elections for the European Parliament and local councils, NCFA commissioned a comparative poll on local government investment and campaigned for a commitment to a minimum level of spending by local authorities. The aim was to secure a feasible level of support locally because of the significance of local authority arts funding within the national arts ecology. An NCFA Survey commissioned from RedC revealed low levels of funding and high levels of inconsistency in local arts budgets. In 2016, the NCFA campaigned to raise the low level of funding of the arts in Ireland, at 0.1% GDP, compared to average EU expenditure, 0.6% GDP. The #ArtsDeptNow social media campaign ran alongside a petition on the Uplift platform as part of a call to remedy changes made to the arts Minister's portfolio that meant the arts were included with three other large areas of responsibility, while heritage had been removed. In 2017, an NCFA Community Survey revealed enthusiasm for the promotional potential of the government's Creative Ireland programme, but concern about how the state funds the arts over. The low level of state support for the arts compared to other EU countries continued to be a core issue for NCFA in its 2018 pre-Budget submission.The disappointment of the NCFA with the overall allocation to the arts made by government in Budget 2018 was widely reported by Ireland's national radio and television broadcaster and national newspapers.