The Government is facing pressure to drop a clause in new legislation which would force the Arts Council to separate funding for traditional music from all other elements of its budget.

The proposal, listed as section 21 in the Arts Bill 2002, led to a protest yesterday outside Leinster House by leading musicians, including Christy Moore, Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains and Paul Brady.

The Bill was pioneered by Ms Síle De Valera during her time as Minister for Arts, Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht,

Under the Bill, the Arts Council would have to set up three standing committees.

Two of the standing committees would deal with local authorities and the need for more innovation in the arts community, but the final one dealing with traditional music would be the only committee to have funding powers.

The proposal has caused great disturbance within the traditional music world, amid allegations that Ms De Valera had bowed to Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann's desire for extra State funding.

Comhaltas received Arts Council money until a disagreement in the 1980s, following which it was funded directly by the Department of the Gaeltacht and its successors. Last year, it received €500,000.

The proposal to have a separate funding body for traditional music, albeit under the Arts Council umbrella, was raised by Ms De Valera during consultations in 1999, though it was then strongly criticised.

Now part of the responsibility of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, the Arts Bill is due to be voted upon at committee stage next Wednesday.

In a statement yesterday, the musicians, led by Moore and Moloney, said Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann was the only organisation involved in traditional music to support such a move.

"The majority in the traditional music world could not have confidence in the ability of a committee, effectively established at the behest of one organisation, to fairly and adequately represent the views of the very wide number of bodies and individuals who do excellent work in the area," the statement by the musicians added.

"The idea of a separate committee for traditional music is isolationist. If it is a good idea for traditional music, why is it not a good idea for all other forms of music, theatre, dance, literature?" they asked.

Calling for section 21 to be abandoned, the musicians said the Government should maintain "the arm's-length principle in dealings between central government and a transparent and accountable Arts Council".

During a meeting yesterday with the Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Sports and Tourism, the Arts Council warned that section 21 would undermine its "integrity and decision-making processes".

"We have already seen the depth of dissent and division this proposal has brought to the traditional music community and to the arts community in general," the council's chairman, Mr Patrick J. Murphy, said.

Last night, sources indicated that government backbenchers sitting on the Oireachtas committee were to seek a meeting with Mr O'Donoghue before Wednesday's vote to discuss ways of resolving the issue.