Opinion
03 Feb 20

What are Ireland's political parties promising to do for the Arts? These are the takeouts from their manifestos

Eleanor McEvoy by the IMRO Radio Awards 2018 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

IMRO have compiled a handy guide to where Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, Labour, People Before Profit, the Social Democrats & the Greens stand

The Irish Music Rights Organisation has issued a timely guide to what the main Irish political parties are saying in relation to music and the arts in their manifestos.
A recurring theme is the need for night mayors, and a review and revision of the current licensing laws, which are hampering bars and venues throughout the country. There's also lots of talk about tax breaks, music education in schools and more money for the Arts Council. Disappointingly, there doesn't seem to be much appetite for addressing what hi-tech multinationals pay - or don't pay - for using copyright material.
“Going through the political manifestos of each of the political parties can be confusing and time consuming, so we thought that it might be helpful if we were to study the manifestos of each of the parties and isolate the policies to do with music and the arts,” IMRO Chairperson, Eleanor McEvoy, reflects. “Most of it is jargon free, but for those of you that are not familiar with the term ‘Fair Use’, you can read about it at https://www.imro.ie/faq/what-is-meant-by-the-term-fair-use. ‘Fair Use’ is not something that benefits the music industry and it is not something that IMRO would support.
“Please understand, we are not aiming to direct your vote towards any particular party or candidate, we would just like to present their strategies in relation to music so that you can all see where they stand.Don’t forget to vote!”
The strength of feeling that exists within the arts community was evident last Friday at NCFA’s National Arts Hustings in the Project Arts Centre. The Minister for Culture, Josepha Madigan, who was loudly barracked by sections of the audience, joined representatives from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Green Party, the Labour Party, the Social Democrats and Solidarity-People Before Profit in debating the future course of the arts in Ireland.
We’ll have a full report in our next issue, out on Thursday with Hudson Taylor on the cover.
In the meantime, here are those manifesto points to mull over:
https://www.imro.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Election-Manifesto-Analysis-2020-v3.pdf