Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys has announced €2 million in extra funds for the Arts Council next year, to finance events for the 1916 centenary.

Ms Humphreys also announced an extra €2 million in funding for the country’s national cultural institutions.

This brings the Arts Council’s funding to €60 million for 2015, and total Government spending on arts, culture and film to €158 million.

The money is being earmarked for the Council’s commemorations programme as part of Ireland 2016, and will allow it to fund a series of events and initiatives across the country.

It's the second announcement of additional funding for the sector in the last week, and brings the total budget to almost 60 million euro for 2015.