Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be sharing time with Deputy Alan Farrell and Deputy O'Donnell. I am sure the Minister will be relieved to know that I will not be addressing the issues of bogs or turf cutting in my speech.

I will reiterate some of the key points the Minister, Deputy Madigan, made about the Government's response to the Covid-19 crisis as it relates to the arts and culture. As we all know, we are faced with an extraordinary public health emergency. We have had no option but to slow the spread of the virus and to protect the health of our people. We are all seeking the common good. Unfortunately, the public health measures have come at a great cost to Ireland's cultural life. Those who love culture and the arts and those who make a living from them continue to be dramatically affected in every corner of Ireland. Crucially, the Government's responses in assisting many of those working in the sector, the Covid-19 pandemic unemployment payment and the temporary wage subsidy scheme, are providing vital support for many artists, arts practitioners and others employed in the arts, culture and audiovisual sectors. As the Minister stated, more than 14,000 people in the arts, entertainment and recreation sectors were receiving the pandemic unemployment payment at the start of this month, May. One of the initiatives I want to note is Ireland Performs.

Normally Culture Ireland provides valuable support for thousands of Irish artists and performers to bring Irish culture around the globe. This has not been possible during the Covid-19 pandemic. Culture Ireland is to be commended on coming up with a timely way of promoting these performers and artists online while at the same time providing a grant of €1,000 for each performance. More than 500,000 people have tuned in around the globe to over 75 Ireland Performs performances on Facebook to date. Artists and performers from around Ireland have taken part in and benefited from Ireland Performs, including artists from Sligo and Leitrim, and I pay tribute to them this evening.

Husband and wife duo, Oisín Mac Diarmada and Samantha Harvey, performed on Tuesday, 21 April. Oisín hails from Sligo and is the founder of the Irish group, Téada. Samantha is an award-winning step dancer and pianist from California. They performed Ceol agus Coffee live from their Sligo home. Their programme of music was drawn from material recorded by Sligo fiddlers over the years and reflected Samantha's Californian roots and Oisín's special interest in the fiddle music of Sligo emigrant fiddlers of the 1920s and 1930s.

I commend my colleague and friend, Bernard Flaherty, a traditional musician from Boyle in County Roscommon. He wrote the historical record, Trip to Sligo, in 1990 which highlighted the finest music of south Sligo and north Roscommon. It included Fred Finn, Peter Horan, Harry McGowan, Andrew Davey and Kathleen Morris, along with a younger group of musicians, including Tommy Finn, Pat Meehan, Colm O'Donnell and many others. I recall bringing Bernard to Shannon Airport in my van with all the hardcover books to sell in the United States. This was a major historical record. He went with dozens of books and came home with no books but loads of money. It is a great record. I pay tribute to him. We are very proud of the work he did.

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