Irish performers at the Edinburgh Festival, along with international touring productions by companies such as Druid, could be among many cultural activities at risk due to Brexit, the Arts Council has warned.
Council director Orlaith McBride was speaking at a sectoral dialogue in Cavan on the impact Brexit may have on culture and the Irish language, heritage and outdoor recreation, regional SMEs, border areas and rural communities.
The meeting, convened by Minister for Arts Heather Humphreys, heard from sectoral representatives who had been invited to give their views on what strategies the Government should adopt once the UK triggers article 50 and begins the process of leaving the EU.
Ms McBride said that, while it was almost impossible to predict what the exact impact of Brexit will be, “the sense of uncertainty is palpable”.
There would be a detrimental effect for the many Irish artists who relied on showing their work in the UK, and changes in VAT regulations could make travel abroad more costly.
Weaker sterling
Meanwhile, a weaker sterling could make it more profitable for West End shows to come to venues such as Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre.
“Artists don’t recognise borders,” said Ms McBride, who voiced concerns that co-productions and co-funding arrangements between funding agencies north and south of the Border could become impossible once the UK leaves the EU.
“The two arts councils work very closely on joint funding, tours and co-productions, which may all be significantly compromised,” she warned, adding that regulations on the sharing of personal data with non-EU countries could make collaboration even more difficult .
Ms McBride said the EU-wide Creative Europe funding programme would have its budget reduced when UK subventions ceased, and she called on the Government to lobby for "placing culture at the heart of unifying Europe and celebrating cultural diversity" by increasing EU spending in the area.
Allen McAdam of the International Fund for Ireland told the meeting Border areas would be affected most by Brexit.
“People in Border areas are resilient,” he said. “But the long-term effect will be further rural depopulation and history repeating itself.”
SME impact
Dawn Livingstone of Waterways Ireland said ending EU funding would undermine the great potential of waterways in Northern Ireland, while Arnold Dillon of Ibec said SMEs had already been hit by a competitive disadvantage of 15 per cent due to the slide in the value of sterling. He said an Enterprise Stabilisation Fund was required, along with a derogation from EU regulations on state aid.
In a breakout session focusing on the culture industries and the Irish language, Irish Film Board chief executive James Hickey said the main treaties governing audio-visual co-productions were under the Council of Europe rather than the EU, so the UK would continue to be defined as European for those purposes.
However, there were many significant questions and challenges relating to the movement of people, goods and services for the Irish industry, which he said had currently a turnover of €500 million per year.
There was some debate on the likely impact of becoming the only English-speaking country in the EU, and what that might mean for the Irish language, while a number of participants made the point that it was time for the cultural sector here “to wean ourselves off our dependency on the UK”.
