Debate contribution: Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026
Debate contribution by Ms Michelle O'Neill on .
- MLA
- Ms Michelle O'Neill
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 21 September 2026
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann 2026
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5742127
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Like the Member, I engage with many people from across the arts, and they often make the comparison with the support for artists in the South. We do not have that here, which is unfortunate, because we have so many amazing artists. We have a talented base here. We need to find ways to support them, and the summer's events proved that even more. A number of businesses said that artists came into their premises and played for free; they did not get paid because they just wanted to be part of something special. Part of the learning and lessons from that has to be this: when we have that type of showcase, how do we support our artists to come forward and create those opportunities? Unfortunately, the arts are often treated like a poor relation across the Department for Communities. We need to do more, and we need to find ways to put in place a strategy to support artists within the resources that we have. We need to look at examples of how that is done elsewhere. Let us not try to reinvent the wheel if there are ways to do that. We have had our own commission and have spoken to artists from across various areas, and they are begging for support and help. I want us to be able to do something: let us make it something that we can work on together, because the arts should unite us all.
244 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Awaiting analysis
This record has not been analysed yet. It is not counted in any total until it has been assessed.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reviews every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.