Electric Picnic organisers call on council to allow event to proceed

Organisers of the Electric Picnic Festival are calling on Laois County Council to allow its event to go ahead for vaccinated spectators after the chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan said he would not have concerns from a public health perspective if that was allowed to happen.

In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, said the organisers are now asking the Laois County Council to “immediately reverse” the decision it took earlier this month to refuse the festival licence.

Mr Benn requested that the council immediately grant the licence on the condition that all concert goers would be fully vaccinated.

“Change the decision… and let’s have the Picnic. Tell us tomorrow and we are on our way,” he said.

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The move comes after Dr Holohan said he would not have concerns from a public health perspective if the festival went ahead with only fully vaccinated people in attendance.

The risk of vaccinated people transmitting the disease was “very, very small,” he pointed out, adding: “We wouldn’t have concerns about that if it could be achieved”.

Dr Holohan told a media briefing by the National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) that unvaccinated people should not be allowed to attend the All-Ireland GAA football final or other large outdoor events.

Such events should be confined to people who are vaccinated, he said, and people who have not received the Covid-19 vaccine should not attend.

The Electric Picnic organisers had expressed hopes at the beginning of August that the festival could go ahead at the end of September with 70,000 attendees, with entry conditions including proof of vaccination or of having already recovered from the virus.

‘Very difficult decision’

Earlier this month Laois County Council refused to grant the organisers a licence to hold this year’s festival. The council said the “very difficult decision” was made “following the most up-to-date public health advice made available to the council from the Health Service Executive”.

It also noted that under current Government measures for the management of Covid-19 events of this nature are restricted to an attendance of 500 people only.”

The council’s chairman Cllr Conor Bergin said the HSE advice was “unambiguous”.

“Laois County Council have decided to refuse the licence application for electric picnic on the basis of public health advice from HSE that was unambiguous,” he said.

“This was a very difficult decision for council to make and I’m sure it will be disappointing to thousands of music fans and the live music industry. However, in the current climate it’s the lack of certainty over Covid. We’d all love to see it go ahead but with no certainty, it’s very hard.”

However, Dr Holohan’s advice has changed the landscape completely, Mr Benn has suggested.

Meeting postponed

His call for a rethink came as a meeting between live entertainment stakeholders and Minister for Arts Catherine Martin scheduled for Wednesday was postponed until early next week to allow for the updated advice from the (Nphet) to be considered.

Ms Martin was denied a request to attend last week’s Cabinet Covid-19 subcommittee but will be in attendance this week.

The entertainment industry meeting, now due to take place on Monday, will be attended by the Taoiseach and Tánaiste.

Jackie Conboy, a co-founder of the Music and Entertainment Association of Ireland, said Dr Holohan’s comments came as “a shock”.

“How come it is only now that this is being said? The summer is now gone, and it is very valuable for our industry. There are all those festivals that had to be cancelled,” he said. He questioned if the Government had sought Nphet’s advice on the matter.

Mr Conboy said the vaccination identification system already operating across hospitality venues could be immediately rolled out to arts venues to allow the sector to resume.

Justin Green, a promoter and member of the Event Industry Alliance, said industry members have been campaigning for the last six weeks for vaccinated audiences to be able to attend live events. That Dr Holohan has now spoken positively about large outdoor events for vaccinated individuals is welcome, he said.

“Better late than never... At this moment in time they are just comments. We need to put this into action… Until the sector has been fully reopened to vaccinated patrons with full capacity, our campaign will continue,” Mr Green added.

Country musician Mike Denver said he agreed “100 per cent” with Dr Holohan’s remarks and called for a “level playing field” for the music and arts industries.

“We need as many gigs as possible… Everybody who is vaccinated should be allowed in anywhere they want,” he added.