Thank you Chairman. I do not know whether committee members have received the document I sent in, but I propose to go through the overview, the part on development and the personal statement at the end, and the highlights of the remainder, rather than go through the whole document.
It is a great privilege to appear here today, as the Government's nominee to be chairman of the National Concert Hall. I hope by the end of this process, members will have a better understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing the National Concert Hall, a vision for the development of this national cultural institution, and how my role as chairman, working with the board and management of the National Concert Hall, will help to achieve all this.
The National Concert Hall was opened by President Patrick Hillery and presented its first concert on 9 September 1981, which will allow the team currently involved in the NCH, and everybody associated with it since its inception, to celebrate 30 years of great music making in Dublin and around the world. The National Concert Hall was conceived originally as primarily a symphonic hall for the performance of classical music, and is the designated home of the RTE National Symphony Orchestra.
While delivering fully on this original conception, and still viewed as the venue for classical music in Ireland, the concert hall has developed the breadth and inclusivity of its programming so that it is a meeting place for all types of music, defined only by its excellence in performance, and accommodates the best international and Irish musicians.
The National Concert Hall has operated very successfully since its inception in 1981, both artistically and financially, and has reported operating surpluses averaging €64,000 per annum in that time. In 2010, the National Concert Hall achieved impressive attendance levels of almost 320,000 patrons at 834 events, 336 of which were in the main auditorium. That is a very high level of usage for such an institution.
The concert hall's current programming and output is limited by physical factors such as seating capacity, the flexibility of the auditorium spaces and scheduling factors. That the demand for access and dates to use the National Concert Hall has significantly exceeded the ability to supply is something that I, as chairman, and the board will have to address as a priority.
A public private partnership initiative was approved in principle for the development of the NCH. This was to include a new auditorium with 2,000 seats, the full refurbishment of the existing auditorium, and a separate smaller hall for other musical genres. In November 2010, this process to redevelop the concert hall site was formally abandoned on the grounds of affordability and the current economic climate. However, rehabilitation and refurbishment issues still remain. It would be a key objective of myself, as chairman, and all the stakeholders of the project, such as the Department of the Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs, the Government, the OPW, RTE and our loyal customers, to win approval for action on these issues.
For essential reasons of health and safety, I understand the status quo as of 2011 is not an option for the concert hall. Essential maintenance, disabled access and general mechanical and electrical refurbishment issues have accumulated in the past 30 years of operation. These works were all put on hold, pending the outcome of the redevelopment plans, and I understand they must be addressed in the near future, in any event. The redevelopment plan now includes refurbishment of the existing main auditorium to an international standard, rehabilitation of what was the medical library as a recital hall with a seating capacity of 500, provision of a dedicated personal space with the symphony area, various other small rooms to be refurbished and provision of accommodation for a third level institution offering music courses to degree level.
In the development of the proposed concert hall, the Department of the Tourism, Culture and Sport and the OPW have co-operated to produce a plan which can be delivered at moderate cost over the next three to four years. If this came to pass it would be available in 2015 or 2016 which would be a positive, affirmative and celebratory contribution to our 100 years of nationhood.
I have outlined the vision for the concert hall and touched on various issues; I will not go into all the details. The redevelopment will deliver a strong, positive impact across a broad spectrum of areas by rehabilitating a site of primary cultural and historic importance in Dublin. It is very much associated with our independence and the 1916 Rising. It will enrich the national cultural landscape in general, improve opportunities for Irish musicians, increase the National Concert Hall's public service music remit and so on. We have a list of objectives which will be addressed by the plan.
The next part of the presentation outlines programming. The National Concert Hall promotes a good number of events, and curates them and rents out the concert hall. RTE is one of the major tenants. A key strategic objective of the concert hall would be to develop programming relationships and collaborations with other promoters, performers and institutions. I would envision myself as chairman working with the board and management to nurture these collaborative relationships with a range of parties to deliver high quality programming for the three refurbished venues comprising the improved facilities at the concert hall.
The redevelopment project, as outlined, will provide essential facilities in order that the National Concert Hall can fully implement its artistic policy, placing music, musicians and audiences at the centre of what it does. It can deliver on its key vision of being the heart and soul of music in Ireland and internationally renowned for its unique artistic signature.
My presentation goes into detail on the marketing plans in place. I will not discuss all of them in detail but a lot of work has been done on various aspects of the marketing of the concert hall. I draw the attention of the committee to philanthropy, individual giving, sponsorship and corporate funding as areas to which I would like to give extra attention. We have an existing base of friends and patrons. We have done a lot of research in this area. We have applied for charitable status. We want to leverage our funding from our membership of the American Friends of the Arts in Ireland and individual donations.
As I have some experience in the area of sponsorship and corporate funding, I feel I can contribute to the further development of the concert hall's very successful corporate membership scheme. Plans are in place for a more streamlined and focused scheme which should deliver more supporters. Assuming the refurbishment plan goes ahead, the concert hall will be in a position to open up the process for hall, venue and space naming and will look to engage with partners for a minimum of ten years. I look forward to supporting the concert hall in any way possible in this endeavour. I firmly believe the implementation of this marketing strategy is key to the development of the concert hall, driving sales and revenue and its ability to operate on a more sustainable basis.
The next section of the presentation discusses the very important education and outreach activities of the concert hall which are all grouped under the learning and explore programme which comprised 615 events in 2010, 355 on site and 259 off site. There are plans to increase this by 15% to 20% per annum but if the concert hall wants to deliver on this, it is constrained by its current facilities. The redevelopment plan would provide a tremendous opportunity to increase the offerings in the learn and explore programme on site. I would count the opportunities for growth in this area as a key argument in support of the redevelopment plan.
Financial sustainability is a key and strategic objective for the concert hall. To guarantee the successful achievement of this objective, I as chairman and the new board will have to give strong consideration to the likelihood of an even more challenging national economic climate emerging. We will need to enhance our ability to create new sources of revenue, as I have said, and develop our relationship with the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs in order that we can maximise our potential for support from the scare resources of Government. We will work hard to enhance income streams from philanthropy, sponsorship and other areas to maximise the potential of the concert hall and to maintain its premier status in what is now a highly competitive environment.
My personal experience with the space that is now the National Concert Hall goes back almost 40 years when I commenced my engineering studies in UCD and what are now Government buildings on Merrion Street, a place I remember with great fondness. I recall attending several events in Earlsfort Terrace, including a great Chieftains concert. Planxty and other such groups were around in those days. I attended many debates in the lecture hall which still exists on the lower ground floor when the L&H was in full flight.
I was conferred with my degree in the all-out maxima in what is now the main auditorium of the concert hall. I did not realise at that time that I might have a possible reconnection with the wonderful space. My engineering qualification led to a variety of jobs in technical, managerial and commercial areas, including a two-year stint living and working in the USA.
For almost 25 years I worked in Irish Distillers which is now part of the Pernod Ricard French-based international company in a variety of roles. For the past 18 years I have worked at director level. I have been involved in exports, helping to build up the Jameson brand around the world with great success. I was commercial director for Ireland. I ran the wine business and now run the communications and corporate affairs end of the business. My 25 years with the company has given me a good understanding of strategy, management, sales, marketing, sponsorship and, very importantly, the vital contribution and difference people can make to an organisation.
I have also been involved with industry groups over the years, including a number of stints as chairman of the wine and spirits association. I currently hold the position of chairman of the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland. My involvement in this area has also taken me to Brussels where I was chairman of a finance committee for the European organisation. I had to manage 20 nationalities in ten different companies who sat on the committee.
On a personal basis, music of all genres and forms has been always a passion of mine. I have a particular interest in classical music which goes back a long way, including some very enjoyable school boy outings to the then St. Frances Xavier Hall off Gardiner Street with the RTE Symphony Orchestra. It was doing outreach programmes back in the 1960s. I became involved in classical music in that way. It managed to break through the noise and encourage some of us to explore our musical horizons.
I am currently involved at board level and am chairman of the KBC music in great Irish houses festival. It has given me a practical insight into all aspects of running a music festival, including the artistic, managerial, financial, commercial and sponsorship aspects. I have been a committed supporter of the National Concert Hall over the years. I am a friend of it and have been instrumental in our corporate sponsorship of it for almost 15 years. As a regular attendee at National Symphony Orchestra concerts, recitals and other more popular events I know what it is to be a customer in the concert hall. It must be doing something right because I have been going back on a very regular basis.
If I am successful in achieving the honour of becoming chairman of the concert hall, I guarantee a level of enthusiasm, zest and energy for the job, allied with some reasonable commercial experience and a genuine passion for music. I hope some of this passion and energy, in conjunction with that of the people on the board of the National Concert Hall and the 1.5 million people who will attend concerts during the five-year term of the incoming board, will imbue them to return regularly and happily to the concert hall which has the vision of being the heart and soul of music in Ireland.
I thank the committee for its time.