Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2019
674. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the way in which the decision to move the National Symphony Orchestra to the National Concert Hall was made; the reason this course was preferred over establishing the National Symphony Orchestra as a national cultural institution in its own right; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43512/19]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, RTÉ commissioned a report from independent consultants Helen Boaden and Mediatique on the RTÉ Orchestras entitled RTÉ Orchestras Ensuring a Sustainable Future. The Report made a number of recommendations including that the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) be a national cultural institution in its own right or within the National Concert Hall (NCH).
My Department, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, the National Concert Hall and RTÉ considered the Report and were all of the view that the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra should come within the remit of the National Concert Hall and should not be established as a separate body.
The Government agreed in principle that the NSO should come within the remit of the National Concert Hall . The Government also authorised the initiation of discussions on the implementation of the recommendations of the Boaden report.
The main reasons for this are as follows:
- The NSO has been located in the NCH since it opened in 1981 and it provides the backbone to the Hall's orchestral music programme.
- To the public at large the NCH and the NSO are already intrinsically linked and the aims of both are entirely compatible.
- The recently announced capital investment plan for the NCH includes enhanced and additional facilities for the NSO, incorporating a dedicated rehearsal studio.
- The support services for an orchestra and a concert hall significantly overlap: programming, education and outreach, finance, operations, marketing and communications, personnel, and fundraising.
- Finally a combined creative and imaginative overall programme strategy will greatly enhance the offering of both organisations to the public.
