Ms Carol Carberry:

We did not engage with the Department. We have instructed all of our teachers to follow the guidelines at all times, whether they are applicable nationwide or in particular counties. When dance classes reopened at the end of the summer, teachers were very particular about putting in place the necessary safeguards, including hand sanitising, social distancing, cleaning surfaces, wearing masks and so on. They did all of that very safely for a considerable amount of time until they had to close down again in level 3. That was a little bit of a surprise to us, if not a great shock because as far as I am aware, there had not been any problems. There were not lots of cases of Covid-19 associated with dancing. An Comhdháil was very particular about the aforementioned safety measures and I am sure that our friends in CLRG were the same.

If we got permission to run classes in small groups, that would be good. One-on-one classes, however, are no good. An Comhdháil does not allow one-on-one classes because that involves one minor with an adult in a room, which is against our child protection policy. In that circumstance, a parent would have to be present. Furthermore, it would not be right to ask parents to pay for a private lesson, the fee for which would be exorbitant. We really need groups, in a controlled and responsible manner, for classes. The class is the thing really. Children get enjoyment from being with other children; being on their own is no fun.