Author: Press Officer

Kilkenny Tradfest has revealed the jam packed 2017 festival programme. The festival, which is this year celebrating its fifth anniversary has once again exceeded all expectations, with some of the country’s most influential and acclaimed musicians set to play in Kilkenny City over the St Patrick’s Day weekend (16^th – 19^th March). Bulmers is once again the title sponsor at the festival and this years’ highlights include; Paul Brady (2017 headline act), Eleanor McEvoy, Ushers Island, Pauline Scanlon, Declan Sinnott & Vickie Keating, The Voice Squad, Mohsen Amini and Fourth Moon, plus breakout Irish traditional and folk band ‘Beoga‘ who have recently recorded two tracks for Ed Sheeran’s hotly anticipated new album, ‘Divide’.

Kilkenny Tradfest proudly showcases the very best of Irish traditional and folk music, in a variety of unique venues across the city including Kilkenny Castle and the newly opened Medieval Mile Museum as well as the stunning St Canice’s Cathedral. This year’s festival is set to be bigger and better than ever before, with both free and ticketed events, there’s something everyone can enjoy.

Commenting on the 2017 launch, Malcolm Noonan, Kilkenny Tradfest Chairperson said, “We are delighted to reveal the 2017 Kilkenny Tradfest Programme, it gives me great pride to see the festival go from strength to strength each year. This is down to several factors, but mainly because of the hard work and dedication of the team behind the scenes, and the support and enthusiasm we receive locally.”

Mr Noonan continued, “The festival is jam packed over the four days, and we are proud to present classic trad music, with contemporary blends as well. There really is something for everyone at Kilkenny Tradfest and without doubt it is the place to be this St. Patrick’s Day weekend.”

For the full schedule, with information on tickets please visit: kilkennytradfest.com

The Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Heather Humphreys TD, has today announced details of more than €9 million in capital funding for arts and culture centres across the country. The Minister made the announcement as part of the Creative Ireland programme, with funding provided under her Department’s Arts and Culture Capital Scheme 2016-2018.

A total of 56 cultural organisations will benefit from this capital investment, including theatres, heritage centres, galleries, archives, integrated arts centres, artist studios and creative and performance spaces.

 Seven flagship projects will receive substantial funding allocations:

• Solstice Meath Arts Centre – €300,000
• The Irish Arial Creation Centre (home of Fidget Feet) – €350,000
• The Hunt Museum, Limerick – €400,000
• The Hawk’s Well Theatre in Sligo – €550,000
• Cavan Town Hall Theatre – €750,000
• The Riverbank Arts Centre, Kildare – €1,000,000
• Wexford Arts Centre – €1,000,000

A further 49 projects will receive funding ranging from €20,000 to €276,000.

 Speaking today Minister Humphreys said:

“This €9 million announcement is the most significant investment in regional arts and cultural centres in a decade. The Creative Ireland Programme places a focus on investing in our cultural infrastructure, because high quality infrastructure is critical for a vibrant arts and culture sector, which in turn underpins social cohesion and supports sustainable economic growth.

“I have visited numerous arts and cultural centres over the last number of years, and it is abundantly clear to me that we are well served in terms of the number of centres nationwide. The main objective of these capital grants is to maintain and enhance the existing stock of arts and culture centres, many of which need to be upgraded.

“We deliberately made this scheme as flexible as possible to ensure projects of varying sizes could benefit. The largest funding awards – of €1 million each – are going to Wexford Arts Centre and the Riverbank Arts Centre in Kildare. However a wide variety of other projects will also benefit including new lighting and sound systems in theatres, the conversion of an old Post Office to an artist studio and the improvement of digital facilities. These projects all aim to improve the audience and creative experience. This funding package will also ensure past investment in these arts and cultural centres is protected and sustained.

“This kind of investment goes to the very heart of what I am trying to achieve through Creative Ireland and the Action Plan for Rural Development. Creative Ireland aims to place culture and creativity at the heart of every community nationwide, while the Rural Action Plan seeks to revitalise rural towns and villages through a range of investments and initiatives. Of the €9 million in funding I am announcing today, over 85% is going to projects outside Dublin. However, a number of very important cultural facilities in the capital will benefit, including The Irish Film Institute, the Ark, the Gallery of Photography and the Project Arts Centre.

“Creative Ireland aims to promote individual, community and national wellbeing through cultural activity. A vibrant cultural sector is essential to society and investment in local arts and cultural centres helps to facilitate access to and participation in the arts in communities nationwide.

“I will be opening a further Stream of funding under this Scheme (Stream 3) in the coming weeks. It will be geared towards providing smaller capital grants of up to €20,000 to not-for-profit organisations with a defined arts and cultural remit. While the amounts involved are relatively modest, the grants will in themselves make a huge difference to individual organisations.”

Live entertainment events in Ireland – music: arts, theatre and comedy: family, attractions and exhibitions, generated a massive €1.7 billion of additional revenue over a 12 month period supporting employment for nearly 11,500 people, according to a major new report published in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and IMRO.

The huge income came from over 4 million people attending live events – including nearly 300,000 overseas visitors to the Island of Ireland. In all, live entertainment events were responsible for an amazing 3.7 million bed nights in hotels and guesthouses, the equivalent of over 54 “Sold Out” All Ireland Finals at Croke Park.

The research shows a total of €669 million in additional gross revenue value was produced by the event goers, while for every €1 spent on a ticket, an additional €6.06 of revenue was generated within the economy. The figures are revealed in ‘Let’s Celebrate 2017 The Cultural and Economic Contribution of Live Entertainment Events in Ireland.’ The report, the first time a detailed study has been carried out into the industry in Ireland, was undertaken by well-known industry figure, Justin Green, with economic research conducted by London based international firm, BOP Consulting.

The Let’s Celebrate 2017 report emerged from a belief that the entertainment industry is frequently overlooked and not always respected as the viable and tangible professional industry that it is. This is considered particularly disappointing, by those in the industry, in light of the level of recognition and respect our musicians, actors, dancers and various other performers gain internationally.

The purpose of the project is designed (1) to gain the public’s recognition and support for Ireland’s live entertainment industry and in particular its artists, musicians, performers and the supporting industry as a whole (2) to provide the industry with a benchmark document against which the sector can be measured and which is designed to benefit the overall industry and (3) to provide an important credible educational tool for Colleges, Universities, Research Bodies etc. to use.

Quantifying the economic and cultural impact of live entertainment in Ireland for the first time, the Let’s Celebrate 2017 report is a ground-breaking, independent piece of research. This benchmarking document examines the current status of live entertainment events in Ireland and its economic and cultural contribution to the country. Based on ticket sales by Ticketmaster Ireland over a 12-month period, the document also involved a detailed survey of over 5,700 ticket attendees across relevant events. The document also assesses the impact of a range of different live entertainment genres – Music: Arts, Theatre and Comedy: Family, Attractions and Exhibitions. It breaks down the impact of these genres
geographically (Dublin, the rest of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland) and provides a number of case studies on live entertainment across the Island of Ireland.

In the Republic, an additional €1.3 billion revenue was generated by live entertainment events which were attended by 3.4 million people of which 433,666 came from Northern Ireland and overseas. The total number of bed-nights arising from live entertainment events in the Republic in the 12 months surveyed was 3.1 million.

As well as the Republic, the research also details the relevant figures for Northern Ireland, Dublin and the rest of the Republic. The study shows that over 83,000 fans were lost to Northern Ireland by travelling to events there. As well as the key research, the report also has contributions from a cross-section of contributors including Paul McGuinness the former U2 Manager, promoters Caroline Downey, Peter Aiken and Denis Desmond, Michael O’Leary of Ryanair, Anne Clarke of Landmark Productions, Moya Doherty of Riverdance, Louis Walsh, Simon Cowell, Lord Henry Mountcharles, Niall Stokes of Hot Press andothers as well as artists such as Robbie Williams, Michael Flatley, Michael Bublé, Brendan O’Carroll, Hozier, Danny O’Donoghue from the Script, Daniel O’Donnell and Panti Bliss.

Some of the business groups who contributed include Fáilte Ireland, Chambers Ireland, IMRO (Irish Music Rights Organisation), DLRCC/Richard Shakespeare, Dublin City Council, Irish Hotels Federation, Iarnród Eireann, Vintners Federation of Ireland, the Licensed Vintners’ Association, the Lord Mayor of Cork, the GAA, Aviva Stadium, Croke Park and others.

In an introduction to the report, Professor Andrew Burke, Dean & Chair of Business Studies, Trinity College Dublin, said: “Using a very comprehensive and robust dataset, this study highlights the turnover of these industries, the number of jobs created as well as the spill-over effects on the rest of the economy. Live performance is clearly shown to be a valuable business sector.”

Mr Justin Green, whose brainchild the study was, said: “We felt it extremely important that every element of the report, including both the figures and research be quantifiable, tangible and verifiable. The audit is based on factual information and presented in a format which provides a template for the industry to build upon.”

Victor Finn, IMRO Chief Executive added “Open air festivals and live music events contribute very significantly to the Irish economy. This research demonstrates that festivals reach into local communities also, providing employment and economic activity that bring benefits to areas other than just the large urban centres.”

Commenting on the report, broadcaster Pat Kenny of Newstalk, described it as: “An astonishing, fascinating reveal of how much Entertainment Events contribute to Irish Culture, Jobs and the Economy at large. Hugely valuable”.

RTE’s Miriam O’Callaghan added: “Let’s Celebrate is a landmark, ground-breaking independent piece of new research, that comprehensively establishes for the first time ever the enormous cultural and economic contribution that people working within the industry make to our society. Very informative, stimulating, a wonderful document.”

Today FM broadcaster, Matt Cooper, said the study was such “an interesting, essential and fact-based document that captures the real economic contribution of live entertainment events.”

Application: Please send a CV and covering letter outlining how you meet the criteria for the role to sean.donegan@nullimro.ie
Salary: On request
Fixed Term Contract
Deadline for applications is 5pm Friday 20^th January 2017.

1. Purpose of Job

An exciting opportunity has become available for an International Executive within IMRO. This is a newly created role which will see the successful candidate providing strong administrative support to the International team alongside a first class customer service experience to IMRO affiliates and affiliate society members, handling a high volume of inbound and outbound queries. This will be a crucial role in enabling the International team exceed challenging revenue targets, therefore candidates should have 1-3 years’ experience in a sales administrator/customer service/account executive role within a commercial context.

2. Organisation Chart

3. Job Context and Content

The job holder is a member of the International Team, supervised by the Senior International Executive and reporting to the International Manager.

4. Principal Accountabilities

• Preparation and entering of data associated with International tasks (e.g. Live notifications, AV cue sheets, general performance notifications and repertoire notifications to sister societies)
• Investigating and resolving queries in relation to royalty matters which result from either domestic distributions to affiliated societies or overseas royalty distributions to IMRO members
• Ensuring that relevant overseas societies are provided with full details of planned performances and broadcasts of IMRO members’ music in their territory
• Regular contact with Distribution team personnel and Membership/Marketing department personnel around IMRO Member queries to affiliated societies/affiliated society queries to IMRO and performance/repertoire notifications
• Regular contact with society personnel in relation to outgoing and incoming queries and International team projects.
• Providing administrative support to both the Senior International Executive and International Manager where required in the International Team’s tasks
• Undertaking such other duties as may be assigned by management from time to time

5. Principal Working Contacts

• Senior International Executive
On a daily basis regarding ongoing status of daily tasks

• International Manager
On a regular basis regarding personal and team targets

• Director of Broadcast and Online
On an ad-hoc basis regarding International matters

• Distribution Personnel
On a regular basis around incoming/outgoing affiliate queries, notifications to affiliates and post-distribution issues

• Membership and Marketing Personnel
On a regular basis regarding IMRO Member International queries and performance notifications

• Affiliate Societies
On a regular basis in responding to inbound and outbound queries and relevant team project work

• IMRO Members
On an occasional basis, if required, to aid the resolution of IMRO Member International queries

6. Challenges Faced

The job holder is required to be flexible in carrying out a variety of tasks, always achieving a high degree of accuracy and often against tight deadlines. The International Executive should have good communication skills, work well as part of a team, and be comfortable in performing routine tasks involving data. It is imperative that the successful candidate can manage their personal workload to ensure all key administrative tasks are completed accurately on time.

7. Planning and Organising

The job holder will be supervised by the Senior International Executive in relation to his/her work tasks but will be expected to manage their schedule based on the priorities set. They will also liaise with the International Manager in terms of overall team objectives and their personal objectives. Day to day managing of workload requires flexibility.

8. Direction Received

The job holder will receive regular direction and support around their work and the team’s priorities from both the Senior International Executive and the International Manager.

9. Knowledge and Experience

It is an essential requirement that the successful candidate has experience working within a target driven environment, preferably in a sales administrator/customer service/account executive role within a commercial context. The candidate will need the ability to manage varied and complex operational tasks, resolving conflicting priorities and resource constraints. The candidate will need an advanced knowledge of the suite of Microsoft Office packages. Experience with a CRM system is desirable. A good general knowledge of music, including Irish music, would be of benefit alongside a relevant third level qualification.

10. Review of Job Description

This job description relates to the position as it exists in January 2017. It will be reviewed each year at the annual appraisal and a special review will be carried out during the year if it is deemed necessary as a result of changing circumstances.

Following on from the success of previous collaborative film-scoring workshops, the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, in association with Filmbase, The Contemporary Music Centre (CMC) and Screen Training Ireland will bring together the very best emerging Irish filmmakers and composers to work on an exciting collaborative project.

The focus of the project is a one-day recording session in RTÉ studios in June 2017. This will involve the RTÉ Concert Orchestra performing and recording original scores for up to four short film submissions received from emerging Irish filmmakers.

Submitted film projects for the scheme should require original scored music totaling between three and five minutes. Ideally the film should have a maximum duration of 10 – 12 minutes and should be close to or have completed picture lock. Once selected, the filmmakers will work with a composer, who has been selected through the process, who will create a score for the film to be performed and recorded by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

This initiative will provide emerging filmmakers and composers with a valuable opportunity to enhance their skills with hands-on experience in a vital aspect of film post-production. It is also a rare opportunity to have a score composed for full orchestra.

Filmmakers are invited to submit a short film or film excerpt from a longer project (eg pilot) for which the selected composers will create up to 3 – 5 minutes max. of original score. All categories of film will be accepted e.g. live-action drama, animation, documentary, experimental, etc). Ideally, the film projects submitted should be close to completion on editing, but un-sound edited/mixed. The use of temp tracks or “mood music” where score is required is allowed but not required.

Closing date for submissions: Friday 17 March 2017

Our preference is to receive your submission electronically. Please send a link to your film submission to keith.johnson@nullimro.ie or alternatively by post to:

IMRO / RTÉ Scoring For Film Program 2017
Keith Johnson
Director of Marketing & Membership
Irish Music Rights Organisation
Copyright House
Pembroke Row
Lower Baggot Street
Dublin 2