Musicians protest at failure of Wexford Festival Opera to engage Irish-based musicians
Musician's Union Of Ireland Web Site
The Musicians’ Union
of Ireland (MUI) is appalled that the Wexford Festival Opera has once again
failed to engage Irish-based musicians for its performances, according to MUI
Secretary, John Swift.
“In response to this deplorable situation, the MUI will protest on the opening
night of Wexford Festival Opera – Thursday October 14 from 7.00pm to 8.30pm -
and will place pickets at the entrance to the Theatre Royal,” said Mr. Swift.
“As a headline event in Ireland’s artistic year, the Wexford Festival should
showcase Ireland’s musicians and at the same time provide them with
significant employment.
“We are also calling on Wexford Festival Opera, the Minister for Arts Sport
and Tourism, the Arts Council, Wexford County Council, Wexford Town Council and
Wexford Chamber of Commerce, to facilitate the engagement of Irish-based
musicians at future Wexford Festivals.
“The Festival is reported to generate €15million annually for the local
economy. Sufficient funding should therefore be available to engage Irish-based
musicians on terms and conditions in line with EU norms.
“What is particularly galling is that the Irish Government - apparently
unconditionally - grants substantial sums of tax-payers’ money to the
Festival. This year alone, the figure is €800,000. Total Arts Council grants
for the four-year period since Irish-based musicians were excluded from the
Festival come to over €3 million. Add to that, tax-payers’ funding of
tax-breaks to private sponsors of the Festival, such as Guinness, and social
welfare payments to unemployed, Irish-based musicians excluded from Wexford.
“As an organisation that is internationalist in outlook - evidenced by its’
affiliation to the International Federation of Musicians - the MUI has no
dispute with the musicians of the Cracow Philharmonic Orchestra who have been
engaged to perform at this year’s Festival. The issue is essentially one of
cheap labour and fears that the Cracow orchestra has been engaged on terms and
conditions significantly below EU standards,” concluded Mr. Swift.
07 October 2004 - Courtesy of http://www.Siptu.ie