Dept. Culture Arts & Leisure
The Department of Culture, Arts, and Leisure is responsible for arts and creativity, libraries, museums, sports, inland waterways and fisheries, linguistic issues, archives, and National Lottery distribution issues.
There are five divisions. The Culture Division is responsible for arts, creativity, inland waterways, language policy, and the built environment.
The Sports, Museums, and Internet Creation Facilities Division is responsible for policies on inland fisheries, libraries, museums, sports, and lotteries. The Culture Section is responsible for inland waterways, not inland fisheries.
The Corporate Services Section is responsible for administrative matters in relation to the department. The Public Record Office in Northern Ireland is the official archive, fixed to preserve historical, social, and cultural records. The Future Responsibility Department is responsible for strengthening equality and tackling poverty and social exclusion in the northwest area.
The department’s range of bodies includes Waterways Ireland, a counterpart in North-South implementation. It also sponsors Libraries NI, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, National Museums Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Museums Council, Northern Ireland Screen, Sports Northern Ireland, Armagh Planetarium, and Armagh Observatory.
The salmon and inland fisheries of Northern Ireland are regulated under the Fisheries NI Act 1966. The department has the power to acquire and improve angling facilities. Public angling includes significant resources for anglers and visiting anglers. The department is responsible for inland fisheries in those parts of Northern Ireland excluding certain areas.
The department has ownership and custodian responsibility for parts of the canals that remain in government ownership after the abandonment of navigation. There are programs for upgrading access for pedestrians, cyclists, and disabled access.
The department is a co-sponsor of Waterways Ireland, which is responsible for the maintenance, development, restoration, and operation of waterways throughout the island of Ireland.
National Museums Northern Ireland promotes awareness and appreciation of art, history, science, culture, and the way of life, migration, and settlement of people. It holds collections.
National Museums NI has four sites: Ulster Museum, Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, Ulster-American Folk Park, and Mark County Museum.
The Northern Ireland Museums Council supports local museums across Northern Ireland. It manages the museum accreditation scheme and provides grant assessments.