Irish rap group Kneecap, subject of the 2024 film of the same name, has won its discrimination case against the UK government over an arts grant that was withdrawn due to the trio’s politics.
The group has been awarded £14,250, the same amount it was initially granted through the Music Export Growth Scheme, overseen by the Department for Business and Trade and Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Earlier this year the then-Conservative UK government refused the funding, with a government spokesperson saying it was “hardly surprising” it did not want to give UK taxpayers’ money to those they claimed opposed the UK.
Kneecap launched a High Court challenge to the funding withdrawal in June.
The funding itself has no connection to Rich Peppiatt’s film Kneecap, instead relating to support for UK music artists in global markets. The Kneecap film is itself backed by UK government money with the BFI providing production support alongside Northern Ireland Screen and Screen Ireland, for the €4.5m budget.
Following the decision, a statement from the band said former secretary of state for business and trade Kemi Badenoch – now leader of the opposition Conservative Party – and her department “tried to silence us and they have failed.”
A social media post from the group read ”We took £14,250 from the King’s stash…” The post then detailed that the money has been donated to two Belfast youth clubs on “both sides of the community… one in Ballymurphy, one on the Shankhill Road.”
View this post on Instagram
A spokesperson for the department, under control of the Labour government since July, said “it is not in the public interest” to continue contesting the decision.
“This government’s priority is to try and reduce costs and help protect the taxpayer from further expense,” said the spokesperson, adding that the music industry is “the heart and soul of the economy” and the government is “committed to helping acts continue to thrive and break into new markets”.
Kneecap’s three members Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Caireallain and J.J. Ó Dochartaigh are all prominent Irish republicans, advocating regularly for the reunification of Ireland and opposing British rule in Northern Ireland.
Ó Dochartaigh had previously described the funding block as “an attack on artistic culture, an attack on the Good Friday Agreement and an attack on us and our way of expressing ourselves”.
Kneecap debuted at Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won the NEXT Audience Award. It has since been on an extensive festival tour, and is Ireland’s entry to the international feature Oscar. Curzon and Wildcard Distribution released the film in the UK and Ireland this summer, grossing £2.2m; while Sony Pictures Classics took it to over $1m in the US. From UK public funds, the film has received £810,000 in production funding from the BFI awarding National Lottery funding, plus support from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport-backed UK Global Screen Fund and Northern Ireland Screen.
No comments yet