More funding needed to keep summer festivals running, senator says
Increased support is needed to help festivals in towns and communities across the country, a senator has said.
Senator Manus Boyle said local summer festivals across the country are struggling to run events due to increased costs.
Advertisement
'Many of our regional and rural festivals are really struggling and fearing for their future," he said.
"We've seen the increased cost of running a festival, with the high cost of insurance, operational costs, site set up costs, and energy costs, so we need to see increased funding to support these community groups."
Senator Boyle, from Donegal, said community run festivals, regattas, and local community events across the island are a highlight of the summer for hundreds of thousands of people.
'They are an annual tradition and often the pride of a locality hosting their main event. Many people who have moved from their homeplace to other areas of Ireland or abroad plan to come home to coincide when their local festival is on.
Advertisement
"It is an opportunity for friendships and families to be reunited and provides so many happy occasions during the Irish summer.
'In Donegal, the Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival has been an integral part of the community for over two decades and now attracts visitors from all over the world each year to Ballyshannon.
'Fáilte Ireland research shows that the festival generates €4 million to the local economy and a total of €5 million nationally - taking into account the time spent by visitors elsewhere in the country including travel along the Wild Atlantic Way.
'As well as celebrating and promoting the music of this wonderful musician, and supporting Irish and international musical artists, the Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival is vital for the survival of the local economy in South Donegal."
Advertisement
Boyle said he has asked Minister for Culture, Patrick O'Donovan, to urgently address the need for increased financial support for local festivals across Ireland..
'Our community festivals bring people together, strengthening relationships and creating a sense of belonging. They provide a platform for residents to connect, interact, and build stronger community ties.
'Festivals can be a significant draw for tourists, bringing new visitors to the town who might not otherwise consider visiting.
"Tourism revenue generated by festivals can be a major boost for the local economy and can also raise awareness of the town as a tourist destination, potentially attracting future visitors.
'We need our festivals to survive and continue, not just as a celebration of our musical heritage and the arts, but to contribute as a cornerstone of the local economy in small towns throughout the country."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Belfast Telegraph
an hour ago
- Belfast Telegraph
‘The people of Armagh have been paying my rent this last year': Viral singer opens up on beating cancer and becoming music legend in GAA scene
They say a lot can happen in a year, and south Armagh man Paul Loughran is the perfect testament to that. From being diagnosed with testicular cancer, to writing his county's most prolific GAA anthem, and then travelling the world based on his band's viral sensations — Paul is the ideal example of optimism, hard work and resilience. He makes up one-third of local folk group Plenty in the Tank, whose song 'G Stands For Geezer' became the theme tune for Armagh GAA's run to only their second All-Ireland win in 2024. Named aptly after the manager of the senior men's Gaelic football team, Kieran McGeeney — aka 'Geezer' — the song hit number 20 in the official Irish Singles Chart last August following the final. The song now has well over two million streams on the music platform Spotify, and it's picking up even more traction, now that Armagh are in the quarter-finals of the championship this weekend. Paul wrote the song, which he says has completely changed his life, but just a few months previous, he had received another life-changing announcement. 'I was diagnosed with stage two bilateral testicular cancer in early November 2023, which means I had cancer on both sides, and I had surgeries at the end of November and then that January (2024),' the 29-year-old explained. 'I then had a full month of chemo and got the all-clear in March. I think I left the cancer centre on March 14th or 15th, and then I went back to gigging again on St Paddy's Day, just a few days later. 'I had a sort of serious turnaround. Like, especially coming out of that [cancer treatment], I had no money whatsoever. 'I spent all my savings on just being alive for that couple of months, basically, and paying my bills and stuff.' What the Belleeks clubman didn't then realise, was that just a short while later, his fellow Armagh GAA fans would be helping sort out his bills. 'G Stands For Geezer' was created just a few weeks before Armagh went up against Galway in the All-Ireland final last July, with Paul dedicating one day in his bedroom to writing it and to say it took off instantly would be an understatement. 'I posted it on TikTok on a Wednesday afternoon and a couple of hours later it had a quarter of a million views,' he added. 'It was one of the first TikTok videos I ever posted and the reaction was absolutely mental.' Paul is even more grateful to the Armagh team for actually winning the Sam Maguire after it all, as the entire whirlwind has opened up more opportunities than ever before for Plenty In The Tank. 'We got to go to New York there with the team for a Q&A thing, we got to play in Manhattan, which was unbelievable, and then we got to go out to Abu Dhabi and Dubai there for Paddy's week,' said Paul. 'So we've got to get out into the world and do gigs, in places we'd obviously never have been gigging in before, and better still, we're still getting gigs from it; the amount of weddings we've been booked for just for people around Armagh — we're flat out.' The song has been getting around 10,000 streams a day since its release last summer, and that's on average, levelled out. It has been picking up again since the championship started this year, and as Armagh continue to get closer to an elusive second consecutive Sam Maguire trophy, Paul said the views and listens are increasingly climbing. He continued: 'I remember we were celebrating with the boys [Armagh team] over in New York, and they were all like: 'this is mental, and thank you for writing that song' or whatever. 'And I was saying, 'no, thank you for winning!' 'Because it wouldn't have been anywhere near as big as it was if we just got beaten in the final].' Reflecting on the last 12 months — beating cancer, extensive success and having their band be forever etched in GAA history - Paul noted that 'it was honestly the best year of my life'. He has also been able to give back to those who helped him, with Plenty In The Tank raising £2,000 for two charities — Friends of the Cancer Centre and Musicians NI. 'And now, I've been running for six weeks. I've signed up for the Belfast Half Marathon to try and raise a bit more money for Friends of the Cancer Centre. So, I'm trying my best to give back to them,' he said. 'The people of Armagh are absolute legends. I'm sorry to offend, but they're the absolute best fan base in the world, out of any sport, in any country. 'Thanks an absolute million to anybody that ever streamed or clicked on any videos that had 'G Stands For Geezer' on it — because you are still paying my rent.'
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Kneecap to take to Glastonbury stage in what could be festival
Kneecap will be taking to the Glastonbury stage on Saturday afternoon in front of a packed crowd eagerly anticipating what could be one of the most controversial sets in the festival's history. The Irish rap group are performing at 4pm on the West Holts stage, amid criticism from music industry executives and from the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who said it was not 'appropriate' for the band to perform. One of the trio, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, is on bail charged with a terrorism offence after allegedly displaying a flag representing Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation, at a gig in November last year. The 27-year-old is also accused of saying 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' – something he told the Guardian in an exclusive interview was a joke and part of his onstage character, Mo Chara. Of the flag, he said: 'It's a joke. I'm a character. Shit is thrown on stage all the time. If I'm supposed to know every fucking thing that's thrown on stage, I'd be in Mensa, Jesus Christ.' He added: 'I don't know every proscribed organisation – I've got enough shit to worry about up there. I'm thinking about my next lyric, my next joke, the next drop of a beat.' The set also comes after 30 music executives signed a secret letter, which was leaked by the DJ Toddla T, attempting to get the Belfast artists pulled from the lineup. In response, more than 100 popular musicians signed a public letter in support of the group, including Massive Attack, Pulp, Fontaines DC, Thin Lizzy, Idles, Paul Weller, this year's Mercury Prize winners English Teacher and the BBC radio DJ Annie Mac. Ó hAnnaidh said: 'The fact that the letter was leaked changes things. And I hope that these people regret it. I think they're already starting to.' The trio are also backed by Glastonbury's founder, Michael Eavis, and his daughter, Emily, who has taken over the running of the festival in recent years. She told the BBC: 'There have been a lot of really heated topics this year, but we remain a platform for many, many artists from all over the world and, you know, everyone is welcome here.' The crowd is expected to be heaving at the West Holts, one of the site's smaller main stages, which may pose a challenge for Glastonbury organisers, who have previously been accused of allowing potentially unsafe overcrowding when popular acts have been scheduled to play smaller stages and tents. The band are also likely to be giving the BBC a headache, as the organisation attempts to meet impartiality guidelines while anticipating similar scenes to Kneecap's Coachella performance in April, when 'Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people' was displayed on screens and the group led crowds in chants of 'Free, free Palestine.' Sign up to Sleeve Notes Get music news, bold reviews and unexpected extras. Every genre, every era, every week after newsletter promotion On Thursday, Kneecap released a short video that may offer hints of what to expect, about what they described as the genocide of the Palestinian people by the state of Israel, featuring doctors and humanitarians who bore witness to the horrors of the onslaught. 'This is collective punishment and extermination of the Palestinian people,' the voiceover said. The cause appears to have a huge amount of support at Glastonbury, where Palestinian flags are commonplace in crowds, messages such as 'Free Palestine' have been sprayed on fences, and political spaces feature discussions about the conflict. The Speakers Forum on Thursday hosted a discussion that included Francesca Nadin from Palestine Action, who is awaiting sentence after serving nine months on remand in custody for criminal damage of two banks that support a weapons manufacturer. On Monday, the government said it was aiming to ensure the campaign group becomes a proscribed organisation, a controversial move that means members would face a terror charge and prison. Nadin urged the crowd to write to their MPs in support of Palestine Action but said if the group were to become proscribed, activists would 'cross that bridge when we come to it'.
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
Narcissistic activists aren't Britain's real enemy
Should Irish rappers Kneecap be banned from playing Glastonbury today? Far better to ask: should anyone care? These talentless anti-Israel bigots and the perpetual adolescents attending the outdated Worthy Farm jamboree deserve each other. Perhaps the quinquagenarians paying through the nose to watch 70-year-olds flogging their old hits for the thousandth time, whilst desperately trying to stave off dysentery, think watching Kneecap will make them 'edgy'. Leave them to it. Because narcissistic rappers are just a distraction. Along with Palestine Action – a group which takes to Britain's streets to support homophobes and misogynists – they may have handed the Met and the Culture Secretary an opportunity to pretend they're taking a 'muscular' approach to far-Left extremism in our wondrously multicultural society. But they could also be swatted away for good if the Government showed some genuine bottle, and should not be the primary object of our contempt. The real fifth columnists aren't these provocateurs and cosplayers, but the pathetic politicians and jobsworth civil servants indulging them. What Keir Starmer doesn't grasp, when he issues flabby statements about the 'inappropriateness' of Kneecap at Glasto, is that the root of our frustration isn't just the inability of our authorities to clamp down on this nonsense. It's the knowledge that, at every turn, those who genuinely want to keep us safe will come up against others working against it. Take (please!) the diversity hire in charge at Brize Norton, a woman who has spent her time in the RAF working in personnel and administration ('HR' for short), and who in 2019 wrote that patriotism is 'undesirable'. It's the silly so-and-sos who believe our Armed Forces need woke recruiting practices, even if it exacerbates staff shortages. We've not got enough people to fly our planes, but at least we can try to say RAF staff perfectly reflect our society's demographic makeup. And it's the people who would never openly share their disdain for the majority, but who work unobtrusively every day to undermine their democratic will. The foot-dragging lanyard class – unelected, unaccountable, secretly ideological – thwarts policies they are paid to implement. If you want to understand why the Tories accomplished next to nothing over their 14 years in power, look no further than a King's College London study which found civil servants are significantly less satisfied, and thus less motivated to work hard, if they hold different political views from the government. Nowhere is this issue clearer than on immigration. The Tory Government attempted to introduce policies that would deter illegal crossings, only to be met with legalistic sabotage and a landmark legal challenge from the senior civil servants union. Brits want bogus asylum claims thrown out, but charities and NGOs push for an open doors policy that is impoverishing and angering our country, transforming it beyond recognition with no mandate. Or consider counter-terrorism: the Shawcross review revealed Right-wing extremism was being discussed disproportionately, despite Islamist craziness being by far the most likely problem. We have gradually dismantled our Armed Forces whilst money is endlessly squandered on welfare to appease Leftists who live in La La Land. We allow subtle attacks on allies and make excuses for terrorists. We continually undermine our troops with dubious prosecutions and pointless inquiries. Why can't we be tough and resourceful, as the Israelis are on a much smaller budget? Their country has many internal political differences but its people understand there is one shared nation to be defended at all costs. Can the same be said for Britain? The prescription isn't hard: deport illegals, lock up the most dangerous radicals and stop patronising the airheads, tell the soggy sympathisers the game is up. That the counter-terrorism police have now arrested four people after military planes were sprayed with paint during the break-in at Brize Norton – a stunt that could have cost lives – might indicate we are going to get a bit tougher. Let's hope so. But Britain is a long way from confronting the real enemy within.
