Fiach MacConghail (Independent)

I support Senator Heffernan's remarks on the Cloyne report. As I stated yesterday, we should ask the Leader to set some time aside to reflect on and bear witness to the outcomes of the Cloyne report. I support my fellow Senator on this disturbing and shocking report.

Last week in the Seanad, Senator Eamonn Coghlan spoke eloquently and passionately about the role of the Special Olympics and sport in local communities throughout Ireland. He also accentuated and encouraged a degree of positivity and gave us an insight into how athletes square up to adversity. Sometimes in the media this positivity is reported as naive and unrealistic. In my role as chairman of We the Citizens I have been accused of being chirpy, a way of demeaning citizens who have a mixture of idealism, energy and realism. I run the Abbey Theatre and I am its artistic director. Running any theatre or arts organisation demands idealism, positivity and a good dose of business acumen and sales. It requires all of us to think outside the box as well. This is the definition of the artist's role in Irish society: to innovate, celebrate, criticise, engage and to offer clarity and, sometimes, hope. Also, they have bitten the hand that feeds them and that is important too. Discordant voices and disagreement are an essential part of any healthy society as we have seen in this Chamber.

Artists have played an important part in our communities for thousands of years. They are looked up to as chroniclers of our times, passing down through the oral tradition the songs, stories and the dinnseanchas of our tribes. This is where the Irish imagination was born and reared and it has been one of our greatest assets on our journey to nationhood and sovereignty. Now that our sovereignty has been undermined and our communities are under threat we should turn to our artists and sports heroes for courage, inspiration and clarity.

The Chamber is full of Senators who have made contributions to their communities in one way or another. Senator Ó Murchú is a great light and supporter of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, an extraordinary organisation which has knitted and brought communities together throughout the country. Senator John Whelan is a novelist. Senator David Norris is a scholar and arts supporter. Senator MacSharry is an award-winning actor with important experience in the amateur movement.

All Senators know what it is like to participate in an arts event either as a performer or, just as crucially, as an audience member. Without an audience there is no art and vice versa and without either there is no community and no dialogue. I note that yesterday, Senator O'Sullivan requested that the Leader call on the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, to come to the Seanad to discuss the role of the arts in these tough times. The arts have a value. We could discuss their impact on tourism, local business and the reputational value they bring to our nation internationally. However, we should remember that all the flourishing arts centres and festivals throughout the country started because artists, arts workers and communities sought a dialogue to inform and entertain each other. For example, let us consider the Galway arts festival this week, the Kilkenny arts festival to be held in early August, Spraoi, which will be held during the August bank holiday weekend in the Leader's and Senator Cullinane's constituency and the Dublin theatre festival which is coming. Every weekend there is an extraordinary flourishing and emergence.