Madam, — The collapse of the Irish National Opera Company (Home News, May 28th) is a shocking indictment of the arts policies of successive governments. That it happened before a single production had been presented points to the continuing absence of any coherent vision of the future of opera in Ireland. This country, with its rich cultural and artistic heritage, continues to produce a disproportionate number of incredibly talented classical singers and other musicians. However, it has become almost impossible for the great majority of them to find any creative or artistic outlet on this island.
The history of the Dublin Grand Opera Society (later Opera Ireland) since 1941 and Wexford Festival Opera since 1951 indicates an incredible resilience on the part of these companies in the face of unremitting financial constraints and serious long-term underfunding. It also demonstrates the selfless determination of countless individuals (including many volunteers) to keep arguably the greatest art form of them all alive against enormous odds. We are all aware of the precarious state of the public finances and the pressure that this places on the funding of a wide range of government-supported activities.
However, other European countries – many ostensibly significantly less well off than ourselves – manage to maintain opera houses and to present seasons of fully-staged and often highly innovative productions. Given the much-vaunted current emphasis on cultural tourism it seems somewhat incongruous that our capital city has neither an opera house nor a full season of productions.
One can only hope that last week’s announcement will force a fundamental rethink of policy in this area before it’s too late. – Yours, etc,