Dates for easing live music restrictions to be given on Tuesday says Coveney

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said the Government will give specific dates on Tuesday for the reopening of the entertainment sector.

“That’s what the industry is asking for,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

The Government wants to “open up through September” as safely as possible.

Talks with the sector will resume today, following a lengthy five-and-a-half hour meeting last week of the Covid sub committee, he said. The meeting with the entertainment industry will take place at 10am, with a meeting with the Covid sub-committee at 2pm.

The chairman of the Entertainment Industry Alliance Dan McDonnell has repeated a call for the digital Covid cert to be used as a method of access to live events.

The €3.5 billion industry which employs 35,000 will require “continued meaningful engagement” with the Government, he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

The use of the digital cert as a method of access would “kickstart” the events economy, he added. A date for the reopening of the sector needed to be set as soon as possible.

Sector-specific supports would also need to be kept in place until June 2022 to allow the sector time to recover.

An easing of restrictions on live music gigs and theatres could happen within the next two weeks under proposals to be discussed by senior Ministers on Monday.

‘Box-ticking exercise’

Mr McDonnell said that engagement with the Government needed to be meaningful and “not a box-ticking exercise.”

There was a “huge sense of disappointment” within the industry at the lack of progress to date. “We are simply looking to reopen and to get back to work” he said.

“What we are proposing is use of the (digital) cert” along the same lines as it was used for the return of the hospitality sector, he said. There had been 40,000 in Croke Park for the All-Ireland hurling final with no vaccination certs or temperature checks required.

Mr McDonnell said that the sector was willing to return using specific public health requirements. “We’re not going to put people’s lives at risk.”

Organising events safely “that’s what we’re good at.”

The Government’s roadmap for lifting the remaining Covid-19 restrictions is this week expected to ease the limit of 500 people who can attend outdoor events, as well as allowing a return to full capacity on public transport from Wednesday, and a return of workers to offices in September.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Minister for Culture Catherine Martin will meet representatives of the live entertainment industry on Monday.

The Irish Times understands Ms Martin is pushing again for an easing of restrictions on live music, and for audiences of more than 50 to be allowed in theatres within the first two weeks of September. The use of vaccine certificates is proposed as a way to allow this to happen.

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