Why are we treating this legendary industry with such contempt?
WE’RE a cultured nation, renowned for our craic agus ceol, something which is worth around €1.7billion to our economy every year.
But Ireland, the land of song and story, has been very quiet of late. Covid-19 has ripped the heart out of our cultural life and, despite all their protests to the contrary, it’s clear that this Government really doesn’t give a damn.
After months of lockdown, those in the theatre and music worlds had begun to book acts again, to put on socially distanced entertainment operating at a loss in an effort to get people working again and help an industry on its knees get back up and running.
But last week’s new Government guidelines saw the live event industry thrown into chaos again. Theatres can have 50 people inside at a show as long as social distancing is observed but only 15 can gather outdoors, meaning that theatrical events and music shows that had been planned for the previous limit of 200 people had to be scrapped.
This included a seated outdoor gig by Lisa Hannigan at an amphitheatre in Kilkenny, organised by professionals with social distancing in place.
But small venues scrambled to find out what the directives meant for them as Government ministers and senators sent mixed messages about what was allowed.
Guidelines
As it stands, events can run for 50 people (including the crew and those on stage) in a theatre but not in a music venue.
And so places across the country whose names are synonymous with some of our biggest music acts were once again forced to cancel any plans they had to stage concerts as hope once more flew out the window.
Venues were told they could ‘place a query’ with the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, only to receive a generic email to their inboxes, with a list of the guidelines they knew about and had already seen.
So the likes of De Barra’s in Clonakilty, Dolan’s in Limerick, Whelan’s in Dublin and Galway’s Róisín Dubh are still silent as the grave as our summer ends without its usual soundtrack.
And the Government’s reaction to the calls for clarity over the issue have been nothing short of offensive towards those who work so hard to make Ireland an interesting place to be.
There has been minimal Arts Council help for musicians and performers, but the major issue with live events is that they are generally run by commercial entities who, until now, have had no reason to ask for support because they have never needed it.
Most people who work in the live events industry are freelance, moving from gig to gig as needed, but in a normal year, there’s plenty to go round.
At this stage, practically every area of the country has some kind of summer festival, not to mention the gigs – Live at the Marquee, shows in Marlay Park, the RDS, Malahide Castle, Iveagh Gardens, Trinity College, the Royal Hospital Kilmainham ... the list is endless, just like the fun we have.
But for months the people who staged those epic U2 shows in Croker, who made sure you could hear Ed Sheeran clearly from the stage in your distant seat, who ensured Michael Bublé didn’t trip on a cable, have been out of work and earning nothing.
And as the pandemic chips away at a viable and profitable industry, already jobs are flowing away in a steady stream.
The gig economy not only supports its own workers but also fills hotel rooms, restaurants and bars with customers. People travel all round the country to see shows of all kinds, filling venues small and large.
Both are in danger as the industry starts slipping away. And without tiny tours and the small shows, we will lose the talent that makes our country renowned across the world.
The first time I saw Fontaines DC, it was in a venue that held no more than 100 people while Hozier’s Hard Working Class Heroes gigs are now the stuff of legend.
But all this talent will be once again confined to their own bedrooms if there are no venues to play, no promoters to book them, no audiences allowed in to watch.
Since March those who work in this industry have been trying to find ways of keeping the creative flames burning, only to be thwarted at every turn.
Clarification
Next week representatives from the National Campaign for the Arts are expected to meet with the Culture Minister and the Health Minister in an effort to discuss their concerns.
As industry professionals they are insisting that there is no difference between a professionally managed, controlled, socially distanced fully compliant event in a theatre and one in a music venue.
They want clarification as to why a full section of the arts has been completely ignored. In fact, they’ve been treated with contempt insofar as they were told they should be looking for other jobs a few months back, despite the fact that many have built successful careers in this industry.
There has been no plan to compensate anyone for the gigs and shows that had to be cancelled at the last minute either, no grants like the one in Britain to support small music venues in an effort to prevent at least some from going under.
Live events workers have been left in the lurch, the industry that gives joy to so many is in trouble.
So if the Government deems it necessary to separate music venues and theatre in the way it is at the minute, what is it going to do to support the tens of thousands of people working in this industry across Ireland?
They can’t work, they are treading water and if it is for the greater good of the public, so be it.
But the Government needs to develop a strategy of support, extend the PUP payment and the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and ensure this section of our economy is not left in the dark as it was last week.
Otherwise there’s a good chance that this industry will crumble completely and all we’ll be left with is the sound of silence.