Creatives, including actor and playwright Roisin Gallagher and presenter and columnist Lynette Fay, will tomorrow (Tuesday 8 September) deliver a letter of No Confidence in Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, protest outside Stormont, hold meetings with MLAs, and sit in the chamber for Gordon Lyons’ Assembly Questions. The action, organised by Equity, aims to highlight the “failure” of the Minister to produce an arts policy and the underinvestment in the arts across Northern Ireland.
The letter of no confidence points to Minister Lyons’ “continued failure to provide the leadership, strategic direction and sustainable investment required to protect and develop Northern Ireland’s arts and cultural sector” and calls on the Northern Ireland Assembly to “recognise the Minister’s failure”. Full text of the letter is contained below.
Over 400 meeting requests with MLAs have been made by at least 90 supporters to discuss the disastrous state of arts funding. 75 out of the 90 MLAs have been contacted for a meeting. Creatives attending tomorrow include dancers, visual artists, actors, theatre producers, stage managers, musicians, directors, writers, and circus practitioners.
Schedule for Tuesday 8 September:
· 10am for 10:15: Meet at main entrance on Upper Newtownards Road (A20).
· 10:15: Photoshoot followed by walk up Prince of Wales Avenue to Stormont
· 10:45: Photoshoot at the ‘apron’ outside Stormont
· 11-13:30: artists holding meetings with their MLAs
· 14:00: Action takers in the public gallery for Ministers Questions to hear the question on arts funding crisis
Photography and interviews available on request.
Alice Adams Lemon, Equity Northern Ireland Official, said: “The arts in Northern Ireland is being badly let down with underinvestment for years, and with job losses and a loss of arts activities; our communities are losing important opportunities to enjoy, gather, create, inspire and be inspired.
“Gordon Lyons has failed in his promise to bring forwards an arts policy and failed in his duty to support the creative industries. Artists and arts-workers are angry and will make their voices heard in Stormont on Tuesday.”
Full text of the No Confidence letter:
To: The Northern Ireland Assembly
We, the undersigned, express our profound lack of confidence in Gordon Lyons MLA in his capacity as Minister for Communities, due to his continued failure to provide the leadership, strategic direction and sustainable investment required to protect and develop Northern Ireland’s arts and cultural sector.
The arts are a fundamental public good, making a significant contribution to education, health and wellbeing, community cohesion, tourism, employment and economic development – bringing national and international focus to Northern Ireland’s cultural identity and wealth of talent.
Despite these benefits, the sector has faced severe financial instability, leading to the loss of jobs, work, opportunities and access. This has also had, and continues to have, a huge impact on the ability to future-proof Northern Ireland arts provision for all members of our communities.
We therefore call upon the Northern Ireland Assembly to recognise the Minister’s failure to provide effective political leadership, to take steps to ensure the delivery of the long-promised Arts Policy and to provide sustainable investment to secure the future of Northern Ireland’s arts and cultural sector.
The letter is signed by Equity and a number of other arts organisations, including local producers. Individuals can sign up via an online campaign action and their names will be added to another version to be submitted later in the month.
Sign the letter of no confidence
