Mr. Ollie Kenny:

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic over the past 18 months on amateur theatre and amateur musical theatre has been devastating all over the island of Ireland. These activities are at the core of community cultural activity throughout the island. The absence of a platform for performers and the plethora of people involved in the creative element of theatre and musical theatre has created a huge void in towns and villages all over the country.

Putting on stage activities in the autumn and winter periods is to a community what sporting activities are in the summer period. These activities galvanise a community and not just local communities. Neighbouring communities support each other, creating a complex web of social and cultural interaction and networking that is unique to Irish society. All this has been put on hold and the numbers affected are staggering. The Drama League of Ireland estimates there are approximately 700 drama groups on the island of Ireland with approximately 25,000 people directly involved. These groups attract an audience, whether local or participating in amateur drama festivals of up to 1 million people every year. The Amateur Drama Council of Ireland is the governing body of affiliated drama festivals on this Island. In total there are more than 40 affiliated members between full length and one-act festivals. They offer the opportunity to more than 50 drama groups to perform all over the country with the added bonus of getting professional adjudication on their work.

There are approximately 120 musical societies on the island of Ireland, with 14,000 members. They offer an outlet to people of all ages to express themselves and participate in this very popular activity as they put on performances for local communities and participate in the very popular Association of Irish Musical Societies competitions. These shows attract an audience of 1.2 million annually and are a vital part of our communities. The impact of the loss of these activities in this sector cannot be overestimated. The impact on the mental health of those involved, and of those who look forward so much to attending these events, cannot be overestimated.

We need to look forward positively but we need some assistance to stimulate the amateur performance sector and to entice our practitioners back to doing these ever so important cultural activities. We would like a clear roadmap from the Government outlining exactly when we can get back to rehearsing and whether our theatres and community venues are to open up again with full houses and full casts. The huge number of people who attend amateur performances need to know when they can come back to our performance spaces again. They are the lifeline of our activities and the lifeblood of community support and involvement.

Because all activity in live performance ceased over the past 18 months, the income streams of our affiliated members and representative bodies have been severely depleted. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Arts Council’s recent grant allocations for a pilot scheme to enhance mentorship between amateur and professional drama and musical theatre. We require financial support to be made available to our organisations on an annual basis once this pilot scheme is completed. This would ensure the survival of a dynamic and thriving amateur performance sector, which is so important to people in every town and village throughout the island of Ireland. I thank the Chair and committee members for allowing us to make this presentation.