Kildare based Senator Fiona O’Loughlin has welcomed the results of supports put in place by the Government for the Irish Music Sector.
Senator O’Loughlin said “We have an amazing amount of talent in this country and I am pleased to see that the supports the Government put in place benefitted the sector.”
“The funding was introduced in September 2020, to help an industry that was heavily impacted by the pandemic. The results of the scheme have been great to see, with 318 artists being supported, 817 music industry professionals provided with employment and countless new songs and pieces of music produced.”
“There have been many highlights already, with Ye Vagabonds, John Francis Flynn and Lorcan MacMathuna being nominated for Best Traditional Folk Track at the 2021 Folk Awards. Along with this, three artists who were supported to release albums were nominated for the Choice Music Prize this year, these talented artists are Saint Sister, Kojaque and Elaine Mai. This really highlights the importance of this scheme, and the benefits of having it in place to support our extremely talented musicians across the island.”
“When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit, it was clear that the arts industry would suffer greatly. This scheme was put in place to counteract that and provide funding for Irish artists to create and produce music. In total it has supported 318 artists, 226 music industry professionals and countless numbers of producers, studios, sound engineers and mixing and mastering professionals. It has been extremely successful, and I am glad to see it positively impacting the sector.”
Concluding, Senator O’Loughlin said “It’s also great to see local artists getting back on stage also. Recently I had the pleasure of Griese Youth Theatres production of “remote” as well as Evita which was performed stunningly by Newbridge Musical Theatre. Supporting the arts is hugely important.”
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