Mr. Liam Hannaway:

I thank members for having us here to do this presentation. I am chairman of the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland, ADCI, which has been in existence for 71 years. Its aim is to foster, promote and encourage amateur drama across the island of Ireland. This is done by local amateur drama groups coming to festivals in an area to develop their skills and also avail of adjudications from professional adjudicators. We are a voluntary organisation run by national executive committee. Under that are four provincial meetings that feed into the national executive and we are organised on a 32-county basis.

During our 71 years of existence we have seen and encouraged groups to travel North and South to festivals in the toughest years of the Troubles. Members will appreciate I am not from the Twenty-six Counties. I come from south Armagh. Groups from counties Wexford, Kerry and Cork have come to play at the Lislea Drama Festival. That has happened since 1980. We have 50 other affiliated festivals across the length of Ireland and we welcome more than 100 groups onto the circuit annually. Putting on stage activities is not just about amateur drama. There is a wider cultural community aspect to it and this needs to be recognised. Where I come from is a rural area, but that facilitates farmers and old-age pensioners living on their own who come to join in drama at a local level during the winter months and that is of major assistance to mental health. People should not just think of it from a purely cultural point of view as there is a wider range. Through a survey we identified 120,000 people attend our festivals annually. That also involves 740 volunteers across the island, so it is a big community and cultural event. We had this conversation earlier on, but local amateur drama embraces all generations. Drama groups have people aged 16 or 17 playing with actors aged 80 or more. That intercultural and intergenerational work is very important and amateur drama has been renowned for fostering that.

The festival is also a key contributor to the local economy. All groups that travel to the area use the local facilities, including bars, restaurants and catering facilities. Every festival involves overnight stays. If we talk about 50 festivals, that is 50 local and rural areas providing overnight stays.

To make this argument, on 27 June 2019, as part of a wider group of people who are involved in the amateur drama circuit, including members of the ADCI and my friends with me at the table here, I had a meeting with the then Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to look for assistance and to promote amateur drama, given what it provides to the cultural and community aspect of Ireland. Our case was accepted by the Minister and €250,000 was announced for amateur drama. However, when the current Minister took up her position in 2020, it was decided to provide that money to the Arts Council to administer. The funding was allocated between the various amateur drama organisations at this table. This funding was reduced in 2023.

Amateur drama is not only clustered within amateur drama because, as the committee will be aware, a number of people who have been involved in amateur drama go on to the professional circuit. Young people who are doing drama at school who are looking for a professional career have been assisted in that respect. We are, however, concerned that this funding in 2023 to 2024 has now ceased. We ask that it is restored.

In conclusion, we have a long history, we provide to a wide fabric of society across the island of Ireland and we believe there should be some funding provided for the work we do across the sector.