Irish Equity endorses the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) National Arts Recovery Plan

Irish Equity today wholeheartedly endorsed the recovery programme which has been launched by the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) to ensure that the long term damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to the sector is minimised. Karan O’Loughlin, Irish Equity Organiser, said that it wished to acknowledge “the widespread consultation and painstaking research undertaken by the many NCFA volunteers in drafting this National Arts Recovery Plan.

“All TV, Film and Theatre work has ceased and theatres will be among the last arts-based activities to resume full production because of the requirements of social distancing. This plan is a comprehensive document which details not alone the critical areas where a response by the State is most needed, but highlights how the wider community will benefit from each step. These are not handouts but an investment programme to restore the vibrancy of our arts sector, one of the most vibrant and inspiring success stories of modern Ireland.”

It is estimated that arts-based organisations are losing €2.9 million in income per month of shutdown and the economic impact to date is estimated at over €10 million. 19,000 days of paid work had been lost to the end of April 2020. Another €6.4 million in potential income will be lost from cancelled activities to the end of May. Over 12,000 events have been cancelled. In just 8 weeks, more than 2.4 million members of the public have lost out on participating in a variety of artistic experiences.

Padraig Murray, Irish Equity President said, “It is vitally important that the Minister, the wider Government, the Arts Council and all other relevant stakeholders, in cooperation with the entire arts community, now move with urgency to implement the 13 key points detailed in the document. The arts and culture sector has been decimated by this crisis and will be one of the last to recover, thus further impoverishing artists and arts workers further in this low pay sector.”