Following an unflattering photo of Tánaiste Leo Varadkar at a UK music festival over the weekend, the Event Industry Alliance issued a statement calling for the immediate reopening of Irish commercial events at full capacity.

Though October 22 will see most restrictions lifted, the commercial events sector has been closed the longest of any industry throughout the pandemic, and the Event Industry Alliance is seeking concrete reasoning as to why the sector has to wait until the end of October to reopen.

Read the statement in full below.

The Event Industry Alliance is aware of reports in the media of, and the significance of, the picture of the Tánaiste at a UK festival.

The EIA are glad to see An Tánaiste recognises and trusts the safety measures put in place by our UK colleagues and now calls on government to open our industry at 100% capacity without further delay. This is where our focus remains whilst we are mandated for closure or severely restricted operation we still require 100% capacity to be financially viable.

It has been repeatedly stated and acknowledged by An Taoiseach and the Tánaiste (as recently as last Event Industry Stakeholder meeting with Minister Catherine Martin) that the commercial event sector requires 100% capacity to be viable. It must be noted that the commercial events sector does not receive any public funding, unlike the arts/non commercial event sector who receive €130m annually.

No explanation or supporting data has been given to our industry for continuing to keep us closed or at reduced capacity until the 22nd October, at which time we will be closed for 19 months.

We also remain extremely focused on the continuation of both business and employee/personal supports into July 2022, for which we have yet to receive full details, along with the upcoming budget.

We wish all those who do get to go back to work today well.