Photograph: Bryan O’Brien/The Irish TimesThe Arts Council is to face a “robust” oversight system to ensure the recommendations of a report on how it wasted more than €5.3 million of taxpayers’ money are enacted. [ Report into botched Arts Council IT project is ‘fairly stark’ in its findings, Minister saysOpens in new window ]“The old adage, ‘Fail to prepare, prepare to fail’ holds very true for this project,” the report finds. There is sharp criticism of how the council’s senior management worked, finding it “lacked cohesion” on the IT project. “We consider that both the Arts Council management and the board did not sufficiently direct and oversee the project. It said the board showed “blind acceptance” of the advice from Arts Council management and third-party suppliers.

Source: The Irish Times January 20, 2026 19:57 UTC