Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This was a time to get my notes together but I will go for it anyway. I thank everyone for the presentations. I was tuning in remotely, so I heard much of the conversation and discussion so far. It has centred around the lack of performance spaces in particular. That is what I want to focus on solely for this discussion.

Ms Kennelly mentioned the Ballydehob Jazz Festival. What an enormous success. I am from west Cork, obviously, and Ballydehob is a little village that punches way above its weight. A couple of weekends ago, thousands of people descended upon Ballydehob for its funeral or death parade – a Día de Muertos type idea. It was incredible. It is just not Ballydehob Jazz Festival. In Clonakilty, we have Geata Arts, which is a group I have mentioned here before. We used to have Cloich na Coillte, which was very similar to Macnas. The descendant of that is Geata Arts, which puts on a Samhain, or Hallowe’en, parade every year, which is extraordinary.

The reason I mention the Ballydehob Jazz Festival and Geata Arts and the Samhain parade is that those events involve an enormous amount of collaboration. An enormous amount of work goes into the props, displays and costumes. It is phenomenal. They do so, for the most part, voluntarily. At the very most, their expenses might be covered, such as the cost of the materials. They may have to survive on small grants from local authorities, etc. That is replicated in every town in west Cork. There is a saying that if you cast a net over west Cork, the number of talented artists, musicians and performers you get is incredible. I am sure everyone would make the case for their own area but, certainly, there is something special happening in west Cork. These artists are putting on all of these extraordinary works on a shoestring with very little reward or pay. Some are full-time artists and that is their job. There are street performers there and that is their main gig. There is a constant struggle there.

The one thing that all of these artists, in whichever village in town they are in, have been calling for is a performance space. It is like pulling teeth. The blank walls and lack of effort from the relevant authorities, in many cases, to make it happen is frustrating. I could name the towns. In Clonakilty, we are on our third attempt to get a performance space in the town. We tried to convince the local authority to buy an old shopping centre in the centre of the town but that did not happen. We tried to get it to buy an old bakery, which would have been an incredible arts space for both performance and creativity, but that did not happen. We are now on our third attempt. An old hardware store is closing. We do not hold out much hope because of the blank walls and responses we have had so far from the local authority. I guess some local authorities are lucky in that they might have a director or manager who is proactive in respect of the arts. In Cork County Council, we are incredibly lucky to have an extraordinary arts officer. However, I do not believe he is being backed up by the executive and it is a shame.

It is similar in Bandon, which is the biggest town in my constituency. The Bandon Art Group has been trying for years to acquire a premises for a performance space to no avail. Bantry is home of the Chamber Music Festival, which is an extraordinary success. The Chamber Music Festival committee has been trying again to create a performing arts space. It has identified land and premises. The problem is always getting the backup from the relevant authorities, be it the local authority or the Department.

I am trying to paint a picture of the constant struggle these extraordinary talented artists are facing every day to try to get support for their extraordinary work. It is not where it should be. In fairness, we have talked about the supports the Department has provided and that is all well and good. However, Cork is a big county with many towns and villages to cover. It is just not working at the moment in terms of the provision of arts space.

I just went on kind of a solo run and did not ask questions. I would love to hear the witnesses’ thoughts about what we can do for the likes of the artists who put on those performances in Ballydehob and what we can do for Clonakilty and Bandon. What can we do for Bantry for it to have its own arts space? It would become the soul and centre of each of those communities. The joy it would bring would be well worth it. Acquiring a premises like an old bakery or an old shopping centre is not nothing. There will be a cost and an investment to make it safe, etc. However, it would be such value for money in respect of the return we would get from the joy it would bring, as well as the outlet it would give for young people who are not necessarily into sport, GAA or rugby and the services they provide. I would love to hear, especially from the Department, what we can do to improve investment in those performance spaces. Anyone else who wishes can give feedback on the experience we are having in west Cork. We saw the start of a successful project where the Department of Rural and Community Development is putting money into refurbishing old buildings for e-hubs, which is great. E-hubs and remote workspaces are fantastic. Why can we not have something similar for the arts?