Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will not be that long. I welcome the Minister's contribution and, especially, the transfer of the NSO and the choirs from RTÉ to the NCH.

At its best and when done correctly, the NSO is an invaluable reflection of Ireland’s musical and cultural heritage, and there is probably no home more suitable than the NCH, which, when done correctly as it often is, is a champion of the arts.

The addition of the orchestra and choirs will reaffirm the concert hall as a world-class venue and institution, and I am delighted that they will be designated adequate funding and state-of-the-art facilities, allowing them to provide the best services they can.

Now that the future of the symphony orchestra and choirs has been secured, it is important to evaluate the services the concert hall provides. On a Friday or Saturday evening, all over Ireland people are not thinking about going to the NCH. Some communities feel removed from what it provides. If we are honest about that, we can seek to counter it. The NCH has made great strides in diversifying the performances on the stage, but that is not often reflected in the audience. There is work to do and I am sure the Minister is very capable of doing it. It is important that it diversifies its schedule to reflect the varying interests of the public, or it risks being seen as an elitist institution. Sometimes, in the past more than the present, some parts of our artistic community have been that. I recognise the great strides made and hope that continues.

One great stride contained in this Bill is the announcement of the new education and outreach centre. I hope that the facility will be used to give back to the local community. Specifically, working-class communities and communities towards the margins have not had access to instruments of the highest quality or to the tutoring required to attain the level of ability needed to perform on that stage. If the National Concert Hall is to truly meet the standard of being national, we need to invest in that. We have extraordinary artists at every level and offering diverse types of performance. That needs to continue, but the type of music played in the NCH requires investment outside the building. It requires going into schools and giving children access to instruments their parents or guardians could not afford. That has to be the target. It is opening up that range of artistic expression to communities previously excluded from it. There is nothing in this Bill to oppose; hence our contributions will all be short. However, the aim must go beyond that.

See this speech in context