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Minister for Arts Catherine Martin told Coalition leaders she could not “stand by” as the Government treated the live entertainment, arts and culture sector “unjustifiably with inequity” and progress became “unnecessarily stalled”.
In a letter sent to the three Government party leaders at the height of tensions over the future reopening of the sector, Ms Martin said it “remain(s) an outlier in being the only sector without a definite reopening plan”.
If plans for such a reopening were not adopted, she called on the leaders to meet the sector “to explain and justify your reasons for the lack of an appropriate and fair reopening plan”.
The letter, on August 6th, was sent after the Green Party deputy leader wrote to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly warning him that live entertainment and music were in danger of collapse following prolonged restrictions and in the absence of a clear path for their return.
“As you know,” she wrote, “I have made repeated calls to Cabinet colleagues stressing the importance of clarity for reopening within the arts and culture sector, and subsequently I have explored every possible channel via officials in order to have a reopening plan prioritised and developed with urgency.”
The resumption of live events was ultimately included in the Government’s latest reopening plan, with indoor events resuming earlier this month, at 60 per cent capacity for vaccinated or immune crowds.
“This process has become unnecessarily stalled and I cannot stand by when a sector, which supports 35,000 jobs and is intrinsic to Ireland’s societal identity and wellbeing, is being treated unjustifiably with inequity.”
She said her department had drawn up proposals for reopening which were “measured, cautious, timely” and were based on engagement with a sector that “continues to suffer devastating losses and desperately seeks a viable way simply to get arts and culture back up and running in a safe manner”.
A plan for the reopening of the sector was sent as an attachment, and she called on the Coalition party leaders to meet directly with the stakeholders in the industry if they could not put it in place. Ms Martin asked that the leaders explain the “specific reasoning” for refusing to accede to these requests if they were not going to put her plan in place.
“The very least they deserve is for you to meet them to explain and justify your reasons for the lack of an appropriate and fair reopening plan. Needless to say, I am happy to arrange and attend any such meeting,” she wrote.
She said the sector appreciated support from the State during the pandemic, but that it “should not wane as we emerge from the pandemic, and no sector should be left behind in planning for reopening”.
“I cannot stress enough that time is now of the essence. I look forward to your response,” she wrote.
The letter was released following a Freedom of Information request which also revealed there was a joint letter sent by Ms Martin and Tánaiste Leo Varadkar in July to Mr Donnelly asking how the digital Covid cert could support the resumption of business conferences, guided tours and coach tourism, as well as the live entertainment sector.
In his response, Mr Donnelly referenced the publication of Ms Martin’s letter of July 23rd, which warned of the dangers to the sector, in The Irish Times several days later. “It was regrettable that elements of the correspondence appeared in a national newspaper before I had even sight of it,” he wrote, adding that the level of correspondence to his office was significant and he could not immediately respond to all of it.
He referred queries on reopening, the use of certs and antigen tests to an expert advisory group on antigen testing, and to the State’s senior officials group on Covid-19. Ms Martin responded to this urging that “time is now of the essence for the live entertainment sector whose very survival remains in the most precarious position”. She sent his department a copy of her plan to reopen the sector, which had also been sent to the senior officials group, and asked that officials from his department or the National Public Health Emergency Team attend a meeting on August 18th with her and stakeholders from the industry.