Laois singer calls for end to Fáilte Ireland ban on live performances
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The lead singer of Laois band Transmitter is pleading for the end to the Covid ban on live band performances that has left him and his three band members without a job for 15 months now.
Stewart Quinn says that while the Pandemic Unemployment Payment is keeping the roof over his family’s head, he and his band need to get back gigging immediately.
“We are Covid compliant, we followed all the protocols. If Croke Park can take a couple of thousand by the middle of July, does it not make sense to put the toe in the water. There is a blanket ban still on live music, loud music and djs.
Estimating its nearly 90 members have lost â¬11 million in earnings during the pandemic, the Irish Wedding Band Association is calling for a stimulus package and a rough roadmap for the return of weddings.
The association has written to Minister for the Arts Catherine Martin warning that its membersâ businesses have been left in a âprecarious and uncertain placeâ as they do not fit into the funding streams currently available.
âAnother blowâ
The wedding industry has been dealt âanother blowâ this week, Cathal Molloy the associationâs founder said, as indications came from Government that gatherings of more than 50 people were unlikely to be allowed before autumn. Molloy said it was not only bands and performers who were affected by restrictions on gatherings, but photographers, make-up artists and other freelance wedding professionals.