Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "2024" and substitute the following: "be deemed to be read a second time this day one month.".

I commend Deputy Ó Snodaigh on bringing forward this Bill, which I and the Labour Party are firmly behind. I also pay tribute to Ailish McCarthy for initiating the campaign three years ago and pursuing it so diligently over the past few years. This is a matter of dignity and respect for our comedians, who, to be clear, absolutely are artists and are loved and valued by the public here and the world over, yet somehow are not recognised as artists for the purpose of receiving any State support. It really amazed me to learn that comedy is not recognised as an art form. I think most people would assume it is. The definition of art in the existing Arts Act, as Deputy Ó Snodaigh pointed out, refers to "any creative or interpretive expression" and includes visual arts, theatre, literature, music, dance, opera, film, circus and architecture. It seems like a really broad definition, and I just cannot understand how the Arts Council does not see comedy as falling within that. I have heard that the supposed reasoning for this is that comedy is some sort of commercial art form. That in itself is, ironically, a joke. Every artist and every art form ultimately aspires to be commercially viable. We have some commercially successful comedians, yes, but there are plenty who are not.

We give Arts Council grants for literature, yet Sally Rooney exists. The current definition of "arts" also includes architecture. We are in the middle of a housing crisis and these guys can literally charge what they like, and yet they are considered to be artists and comedians are not. It is a fundamentally silly and illogical approach.

This Bill is very close to my heart, as some of my best friends are comedians. I dabbled in a little bit of comedy previously. I am proud that I am good friends with the guys in the sketch comedy group, Foil Arms and Hog, who are one of the outstanding comedic acts in this country and one of our most successful now. However, I knew them when they were younger and not successful and they were just foil arms and piglet; I apologise for that. We did some writing and acting together as part of a Father Ted play that we put on when we were all in the drama society in UCD quite a long time ago now. I even did some sketch writing with them after that and we almost went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival together, but it did not happen at the time. They kept writing. They founded Foil Arms and Hog. They would not admit this to themselves, but we are under Dáil privilege here now, so what are they going to do? I was obviously the most talented and best looking of the group - the fifth Beatle, if you will - but they Pete Bested me. They ditched me and moved on to bigger and better things. I am fine; I am over it. I certainly am not going to hold it against every comedian in the country - at least not anymore. I went on to share a flat with Seán Flanagan from Foil Arms and Hog for many years when they were starting out. I owe Seán a lot when it comes to him sticking his neck out on the line for my political career and doing some brilliant videos with me during my election campaigns. He is one of my oldest and dearest friends and I have shared the ups and downs of his comedy career with him.

Irish stand-up comedy is not an easy environment to get a foothold in, let alone make money from. There are numerous small venues and comedy nights around Dublin, like in the International Bar, where comedians can get a start, but I have seen first-hand what a difficult lifestyle it is. We all know that many comedians need to go on the dole to maintain themselves. The fees for appearing at a comedy night like that are absolutely paltry. I saw when Foil Arms and Hog were starting out that they were splitting these fees in three between them. From living with someone at the start of their comedy career, I have seen the sacrifice, diligence and dedication that is required, the long and antisocial hours, the poor personal hygiene and the inability to wash dishes or carry out routine household chores, but it was all done for the sake of their art, which is their passion, or was it? It is not art, according to the State. Aside from the monetary aspect to this, how insulting and disheartening must it be to know that the State does not recognise what you are pouring their heart and soul into as art? It is not good enough for the Minister to kick the can down the road on this for 18 months for the sake of a one-word amendment. I thought this Government wanted to be one of implementation and action. Here is a good chance. There is no monetary ask here. This Bill is simply seeking that another form of art would be recognised for the purposes of applying for existing grants and funding. It is a simple but effective Bill. It is a one-word change to an Act, but one which could make a huge difference to our comedic acts. I commend it to the House.

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