Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Last Monday, I had a Zoom meeting with the arts community in Limerick. I met ten artists across a range of disciplines. We are very proud of our artist community based in Limerick. We have a world-renowned art college. We have theatres like the Lime Tree and Belltable and the University of Limerick, UL, with a host of companies. They have major concerns about where they stand. The Arts Council and the Theatre Forum are currently producing guidelines on social distancing. I will put it in context. The Belltable theatre is very well known. Based on current restrictions, it would operate at 16%, capacity which is 37 people in a venue that holds 220. It needs an audience of 154, approximately 70%, to be viable.

We have major issues. Looking at other countries such as South Korea, that is based on 2 m distancing. Other countries would impose 2 m distancing where it might be at low heat, whereas if there is no heat, they might bring it down to 1 m. We need to look at ways to keep our artistic community viable. The Lime Tree, which gets public funding of €340,000 and brings in €4 million into the local economy, is not operating at the moment. Can we look at the social distancing once again, at all times being publicly safe?

There is a big issue in terms of their capacity to come through the pandemic. The Minister said that they will be one of the most exposed communities of all. We need to put measures in place to bring them through. They have serious concerns about the audiences coming back. The audience must have trust in coming back as much as the performers. That is very important. There are major concerns about access to public liability insurance when they resume.

We also need to look at the funding that was allocated to various events that were to take place during the pandemic. Perhaps those funds could be redirected to retraining artists and looking at other media in which to perform, such as street theatre and performances in outside areas. They are a major part of the fabric of Limerick city and county and the wider community.

They were aware this debate would be taking place. I wish to raise their concerns. They are positive but they are extremely apprehensive about the future. How we treat our artists and arts community is a reflection of our society. Many artists have come out of a crisis, such as Seamus Heaney from the North or Seán O'Casey. I have no doubt that world-renowned artists will come out of this Covid pandemic. We must ensure they can come through it.

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