An Open Letter to the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Arts Council:
This is a public call for acceptable standards of ethics and governance in the Irish arts sector. In the aftermath of #WakeUpIrishPoetry and various other events which have highlighted the lack of a workable channel for complaints and redress in the literature sector, we demand:
An Enquiry
- an independent process to enquire into codes of practice regarding conflict of interest, harassment, discrimination and complaints procedures etc in the arts, including those of the Arts Council. This to include a public consultation to invite and document input from people within the arts sector who have had grounds for complaint in the past. Anonymous and public input into this process should be facilitated, and contributors’ safety should be explicitly guaranteed;
Transparency
- that the Arts Council and those in receipt of Arts Council funding be answerable regarding ethical funding decisions in relation to diversity and equal representation;
- evidence on an ongoing basis that the Arts Council are implementing their own Equality, Human Rights and Diversity Policy;
- that structures be implemented to promptly, transparently investigate and challenge unethical funding decisions and cases of workplace harassment, and that funding is consequent to adherence to codes of conduct of the funding body - this to be overseen, reviewed and publicly reported on, as with other state funded bodies;
A Workable Code of Conduct
- that a code of conduct be implemented for Arts Council-funded organisations with clear guidelines on proper conduct towards other artists and arts workers;
- that the Arts Council require all funded bodies to subscribe to the aforementioned code of conduct and agreed practices regarding harassment and complaints. If funded organisations refuse to sign up to, or are seen to have broken this code of conduct, funding to be withheld and those in receipt of funding to be publicly answerable to an independent complaints body regarding ethical funding decisions in relation to diversity, equal representation, and funding of those engaged in unjust practices etc;
A Clear Complaints Procedure
- that a clear channel of complaint to the Arts Council be implemented in order to address complaints of workplace harassment against Arts Council funded bodies and individuals;
- protected routes for whistleblowers who risk their wellbeing and livelihoods to highlight unjust practices, which recognise that the person at risk may need to complain directly to the Arts Council or to another regulatory body if they feel complaining directly to the organisation/ individual in question will compromise their confidentiality, livelihoods, or personal safety. We recognise that some mechanisms exist, but also maintain that they are not fit for purpose;
- investigation into ways to overcome the issue of informal complaints remaining unrecorded, and the barriers encountered by those wishing to make formal complaints, both of which result in ongoing silencing of mistreated and concerned individuals.
Who we are:
This letter was prepared by a working group comprising arts practitioners, publishers and academics, and signed by supporters throughout the arts and academic sectors. We are cross-sectoral and intersectional and consider all areas of the arts and academia, including courses and events run by related agencies or independent outfits who operate within the arts. All forms of oppression in arts sector conduct, funding and accountability are of concern to us.
We are mindful that everyone’s story is their own to tell, that we take into account the trauma suffered by those who are affected by the issues in question and how they wish to participate, and that we respect the confidentiality of anyone wishing to tell a story as it is theirs to tell.
This movement will be a public one and will not be silenced. It will also be a political movement, and we will expect and seek support from our public representatives, including those on the Public Accounts Committee. These issues involve State and taxpayer finances, potentially including in the silencing of injured parties. We are committed to upholding the principle of democratic control and accountability over State funds as a tenet of natural justice. Workers in the arts sector deserve to enjoy the same protections as those in other sectors.
We will continue to spread awareness of MEAS (Measuring Equality in the Arts Sector) and similar reports and investigations, and to bring these reports to the attention of the Arts Council and other relevant funding and policy-making bodies.
We will not accept knee-jerk or simplistic, text-only solutions to these issues. Neither will we be satisfied with being told to ‘have faith’ that change will somehow come when we see repeated evidence that this is not the case. We demand real, working, actionable solutions which will be visibly put into practice, enforced, reviewed and reported. We will not accept the simple removal of individuals when the systems which enabled them to act remain in place. We note the intentions which have been announced in recent days to create new codes of conduct, and assert that without thorough public consultation such codes will be meaningless. We are hopeful that organisations within the arts sector recognise the issues we have raised here, and will work with us to resolve them.
Sincerely,
Donna Alexander
Rachel Andrews
Ferdia Mac Anna
Nuala Archer
Síle Armstrong
Kate Caoimhe Arthur
Zélie Asava
Susan B T
Ivana Bacik
Catherine Barry
Amy Barry
A. Joseph Black
Rosalin Blue
Niamh Boyce
Mel Bradley
Sarah Brazil
John Breen
Sarah Breen
Dylan Brennan
Caleb Brennan
Rían Browne O'Neill
Lynn Buckle
David Butler
Orla Butler
Barbara Byar
Kristine Byrne
Liam Cagney
June Caldwell
Jen Calleja
Siobhan Campbell
Angela T. Carr
Margo Carr
Alvy Carragher
Paul Casey
Seamus Cashman
Patrick Chapman
Niamh Ní Chonchubhair
Sarah Clancy
Jane Clarke
R. M. Clarke
Helena Close
Tadhg Coakley
Dave Coates
Lisa Coen
Mary Coll
Lucy Collins
Linda Connolly
June Considine
Emily S. Cooper
Professor Emerita Patricia Coughlan
Conal Creedon
Michaela Crosbie
Anamaría Crowe Serrano
Aileen Cudmore
Helen Cullen
Leona Cully
Madelaine Culver
James Cummins
Bernie D'Arcy
Siobhan Daffy
Ruairí Dale
Deirdre Daly
Maebh Daly
Jenny Darmody
Emily Davis-Fletcher
Sarah Davis-Goff
Christopher DeVeau
Steve Denehan
Eoin Devereux
Ruairí de Barra
Celia de Fréine
Taryn de Vere
Ellen Dillon
Cathy Donelan
Katie Donovan
Mia Christina Doring
Hayley Douglas
Marketa Dowling
Kevin Doyle
Catherine Doyle
Alison Driscoll
Emmet Driver-O’Donnell
Susan Millar DuMars
Sandra Duffy
Katherine Duffy
Amy Dwyer
Grace Dyas
Paul Dylan
Madeleine D’Arcy
Kathy D’Arcy
Orla Egan
Nidhi Eipe
Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi
Chloe Fagan
Arnold Thomas Fanning
Dean Fee
Jack Fennell
Luke Field
Geoff Finan
Tiana M Fischer
Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
Olivia Fitzsimons
Derek Flynn
Monica Flynn
Emma Flynn
Anna Foley
Lauren Foley
Erin Fornoff
Emily Foskin
Sorcha Fox
Lisa Frank
Oona Frawley
Mia Gallagher
Gemma Gallagher
Andrew Galvin
Catherine Gander
Eoin Gannon
Doireann Ní Ghríofa
Cassia Gilmartin Gaden
Sinead Gleeson
Jackie Gorman
Dylan Coburn Gray
Aoife Greenham
Eva Griffin
Sarah Griffin Maria
Helen Guinane
P Gurgel-Segrillo
Noel Harrington
Jack Harte
Ben Hartnett
Joanne Hayden
Alan Hayes
Felicity Hayes-McCoy
Michelle Healy
Caroline Heffernan
Úna Hennessy
Elizabeth Hession
Diarmuid Hickey
Cat Hogan
Ger Holland
Eleanor Hooker
Adrian Howlett
Seanin Hughes
Charleen Hurtubise
Siobhán Hutson Jeanotte
Carolyn Jess-Cooke
Shiva R Joyce
Trevor Joyce
Andrej Kapor
Kathryn Keane
Oonagh Kearney
Fiona Kearney
Rose Keating
Rebecca Keegan
Roisin Kelly
Orlagh Kelly
Victoria Kennefick
Özgecan Kesici-Ayoubi
Dr. Kevin Kiely
Sean Kiely
Jane Killingbeck
Alice Kinsella
Brian Kirk
Ita Knocknarone
Conor Kostick
Aifric Kyne
Vicky Langan
Brian Langan
Susan Lanigan
Hazel Katherine Larkin
Paula Larkin
Jane Lavelle
Zoe Lawlor
Jessie Lendennie
Simon Lewis
Laura Loftus
Dave Lordan
Marian Lovett
Alice Lyons
Emer Lyons
Aine MacAodha
Aine Mac Carthy
Piaras Mac Éinrí
Lauren Mackenzie
Cauvery Madhavan
Sinéad Magner
Christodoulos Makris
Aoife Martin
Zara Martin
Katie Martin
Jennifer Matthews
Mari Maxwell
Caragh Maxwell
Amy McAllister
Aodán McCardle
Paul McCarrick
Joanne McCarthy
Kerry McCarthy
John McCarthy
Roe McDermott
Katie McDermott
Anne McDonald
Karen J McDonnell
Paula McGrath
Kerri McIntyre
Ruth McKee
Danielle McLaughlin
Deirdre McMahon
Sharon McMenamin
Siobhán McSweeney
Geraldine Meaney
Sophie Meehan
Katherine Mezzacappa
Lia Mills
Declan Mills
Wendy Mooney
Harry Moore
Meg Mulcahy
Anne Mulhall
Fiona Mulholland
Alana Daly Mulligan
Doris Murphy
Jamie Murphy
Aaron Murphy
Louise Nealon
Kerri Ní Dochartaigh
Peter Nolan
Georgina Nugent-Folan
Máirtín Ó Briain
Kerrie O’Brien
John O'Brien
Emmet O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien
Jamie O’Connell
Jessamine O'Connor
Nuala O’Connor
Sarah O’Connor
Paul O'Connor
Barbara O'Donnell
Edward O'Dwyer
Orlagh O'Farrell
Clíona Ó Gallchoir
Abby Oliveira
Pádraig Ó Méalóid
Louise Omer
Ashley O'Neal
Deirdre O'Neill
Jody O'Neill
Bernard O'Rourke
Fiona O'Rourke
Rosie O’Regan
Aiden O’Reilly
Robert O'Sullivan
Tina O’Toole
Sandeep Parmar
Ruth Patten
James Conor Patterson
Geneva Pattison
Melissa Plunkett
Dr. Robyn Rowland
Siobhan Potter
Leeanne Quinn
Michael Ray
Natasha Remoundou
Yahaira L. Reyes
Majo Rivas
Nuala Roche
Ethel Rohan
Donna Rose
Nick Roth
Dave Rudden
Orla Russell-Conway
Oana Sanziana Marian
Victoria Sargent
Seamus Scanlon
Patricia Scanlon
Geri Schear
Colm Scully
John W. Sexton
Michael Naghten Shanks
Eileen Sheehan
Danielle Sheehy
Marie Sherlock
Brian J Showers
Evgeny Shtorn
Muirén Ní Sídach
Sam Slote
Ailbhe Smyth
Cherry Smyth
Tiziana Soverino
Moynagh Sullivan
Deirdre Sullivan
Paul Sweeney
Anne Tannam
Rosamund Taylor
Maia Thomas
Lisa Tierney-Keogh
Karen Till
Susan Tomaselli
Gráinne O'Toole
Billie Traynor
Jessica Traynor
Éamon Mag Uidhir
Daniel Wade
William Wall
Rhys Wallace
Catherine Walsh
Colin Walsh
Joanna Walsh
Emma Warnock
Iva Yates
An Enquiry
- an independent process to enquire into codes of practice regarding conflict of interest, harassment, discrimination and complaints procedures etc in the arts, including those of the Arts Council. This to include a public consultation to invite and document input from people within the arts sector who have had grounds for complaint in the past. Anonymous and public input into this process should be facilitated, and contributors’ safety should be explicitly guaranteed;
Transparency
- that the Arts Council and those in receipt of Arts Council funding be answerable regarding ethical funding decisions in relation to diversity and equal representation;
- evidence on an ongoing basis that the Arts Council are implementing their own Equality, Human Rights and Diversity Policy;
- that structures be implemented to promptly, transparently investigate and challenge unethical funding decisions and cases of workplace harassment, and that funding is consequent to adherence to codes of conduct of the funding body - this to be overseen, reviewed and publicly reported on, as with other state funded bodies;
A Workable Code of Conduct
- that a code of conduct be implemented for Arts Council-funded organisations with clear guidelines on proper conduct towards other artists and arts workers;
- that the Arts Council require all funded bodies to subscribe to the aforementioned code of conduct and agreed practices regarding harassment and complaints. If funded organisations refuse to sign up to, or are seen to have broken this code of conduct, funding to be withheld and those in receipt of funding to be publicly answerable to an independent complaints body regarding ethical funding decisions in relation to diversity, equal representation, and funding of those engaged in unjust practices etc;
A Clear Complaints Procedure
- that a clear channel of complaint to the Arts Council be implemented in order to address complaints of workplace harassment against Arts Council funded bodies and individuals;
- protected routes for whistleblowers who risk their wellbeing and livelihoods to highlight unjust practices, which recognise that the person at risk may need to complain directly to the Arts Council or to another regulatory body if they feel complaining directly to the organisation/ individual in question will compromise their confidentiality, livelihoods, or personal safety. We recognise that some mechanisms exist, but also maintain that they are not fit for purpose;
- investigation into ways to overcome the issue of informal complaints remaining unrecorded, and the barriers encountered by those wishing to make formal complaints, both of which result in ongoing silencing of mistreated and concerned individuals.
Who we are:
This letter was prepared by a working group comprising arts practitioners, publishers and academics, and signed by supporters throughout the arts and academic sectors. We are cross-sectoral and intersectional and consider all areas of the arts and academia, including courses and events run by related agencies or independent outfits who operate within the arts. All forms of oppression in arts sector conduct, funding and accountability are of concern to us.
We are mindful that everyone’s story is their own to tell, that we take into account the trauma suffered by those who are affected by the issues in question and how they wish to participate, and that we respect the confidentiality of anyone wishing to tell a story as it is theirs to tell.
This movement will be a public one and will not be silenced. It will also be a political movement, and we will expect and seek support from our public representatives, including those on the Public Accounts Committee. These issues involve State and taxpayer finances, potentially including in the silencing of injured parties. We are committed to upholding the principle of democratic control and accountability over State funds as a tenet of natural justice. Workers in the arts sector deserve to enjoy the same protections as those in other sectors.
We will continue to spread awareness of MEAS (Measuring Equality in the Arts Sector) and similar reports and investigations, and to bring these reports to the attention of the Arts Council and other relevant funding and policy-making bodies.
We will not accept knee-jerk or simplistic, text-only solutions to these issues. Neither will we be satisfied with being told to ‘have faith’ that change will somehow come when we see repeated evidence that this is not the case. We demand real, working, actionable solutions which will be visibly put into practice, enforced, reviewed and reported. We will not accept the simple removal of individuals when the systems which enabled them to act remain in place. We note the intentions which have been announced in recent days to create new codes of conduct, and assert that without thorough public consultation such codes will be meaningless. We are hopeful that organisations within the arts sector recognise the issues we have raised here, and will work with us to resolve them.
Sincerely,
Donna Alexander
Rachel Andrews
Ferdia Mac Anna
Nuala Archer
Síle Armstrong
Kate Caoimhe Arthur
Zélie Asava
Susan B T
Ivana Bacik
Catherine Barry
Amy Barry
A. Joseph Black
Rosalin Blue
Niamh Boyce
Mel Bradley
Sarah Brazil
John Breen
Sarah Breen
Dylan Brennan
Caleb Brennan
Rían Browne O'Neill
Lynn Buckle
David Butler
Orla Butler
Barbara Byar
Kristine Byrne
Liam Cagney
June Caldwell
Jen Calleja
Siobhan Campbell
Angela T. Carr
Margo Carr
Alvy Carragher
Paul Casey
Seamus Cashman
Patrick Chapman
Niamh Ní Chonchubhair
Sarah Clancy
Jane Clarke
R. M. Clarke
Helena Close
Tadhg Coakley
Dave Coates
Lisa Coen
Mary Coll
Lucy Collins
Linda Connolly
June Considine
Emily S. Cooper
Professor Emerita Patricia Coughlan
Conal Creedon
Michaela Crosbie
Anamaría Crowe Serrano
Aileen Cudmore
Helen Cullen
Leona Cully
Madelaine Culver
James Cummins
Bernie D'Arcy
Siobhan Daffy
Ruairí Dale
Deirdre Daly
Maebh Daly
Jenny Darmody
Emily Davis-Fletcher
Sarah Davis-Goff
Christopher DeVeau
Steve Denehan
Eoin Devereux
Ruairí de Barra
Celia de Fréine
Taryn de Vere
Ellen Dillon
Cathy Donelan
Katie Donovan
Mia Christina Doring
Hayley Douglas
Marketa Dowling
Kevin Doyle
Catherine Doyle
Alison Driscoll
Emmet Driver-O’Donnell
Susan Millar DuMars
Sandra Duffy
Katherine Duffy
Amy Dwyer
Grace Dyas
Paul Dylan
Madeleine D’Arcy
Kathy D’Arcy
Orla Egan
Nidhi Eipe
Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi
Chloe Fagan
Arnold Thomas Fanning
Dean Fee
Jack Fennell
Luke Field
Geoff Finan
Tiana M Fischer
Sarah Moore Fitzgerald
Olivia Fitzsimons
Derek Flynn
Monica Flynn
Emma Flynn
Anna Foley
Lauren Foley
Erin Fornoff
Emily Foskin
Sorcha Fox
Lisa Frank
Oona Frawley
Mia Gallagher
Gemma Gallagher
Andrew Galvin
Catherine Gander
Eoin Gannon
Doireann Ní Ghríofa
Cassia Gilmartin Gaden
Sinead Gleeson
Jackie Gorman
Dylan Coburn Gray
Aoife Greenham
Eva Griffin
Sarah Griffin Maria
Helen Guinane
P Gurgel-Segrillo
Noel Harrington
Jack Harte
Ben Hartnett
Joanne Hayden
Alan Hayes
Felicity Hayes-McCoy
Michelle Healy
Caroline Heffernan
Úna Hennessy
Elizabeth Hession
Diarmuid Hickey
Cat Hogan
Ger Holland
Eleanor Hooker
Adrian Howlett
Seanin Hughes
Charleen Hurtubise
Siobhán Hutson Jeanotte
Carolyn Jess-Cooke
Shiva R Joyce
Trevor Joyce
Andrej Kapor
Kathryn Keane
Oonagh Kearney
Fiona Kearney
Rose Keating
Rebecca Keegan
Roisin Kelly
Orlagh Kelly
Victoria Kennefick
Özgecan Kesici-Ayoubi
Dr. Kevin Kiely
Sean Kiely
Jane Killingbeck
Alice Kinsella
Brian Kirk
Ita Knocknarone
Conor Kostick
Aifric Kyne
Vicky Langan
Brian Langan
Susan Lanigan
Hazel Katherine Larkin
Paula Larkin
Jane Lavelle
Zoe Lawlor
Jessie Lendennie
Simon Lewis
Laura Loftus
Dave Lordan
Marian Lovett
Alice Lyons
Emer Lyons
Aine MacAodha
Aine Mac Carthy
Piaras Mac Éinrí
Lauren Mackenzie
Cauvery Madhavan
Sinéad Magner
Christodoulos Makris
Aoife Martin
Zara Martin
Katie Martin
Jennifer Matthews
Mari Maxwell
Caragh Maxwell
Amy McAllister
Aodán McCardle
Paul McCarrick
Joanne McCarthy
Kerry McCarthy
John McCarthy
Roe McDermott
Katie McDermott
Anne McDonald
Karen J McDonnell
Paula McGrath
Kerri McIntyre
Ruth McKee
Danielle McLaughlin
Deirdre McMahon
Sharon McMenamin
Siobhán McSweeney
Geraldine Meaney
Sophie Meehan
Katherine Mezzacappa
Lia Mills
Declan Mills
Wendy Mooney
Harry Moore
Meg Mulcahy
Anne Mulhall
Fiona Mulholland
Alana Daly Mulligan
Doris Murphy
Jamie Murphy
Aaron Murphy
Louise Nealon
Kerri Ní Dochartaigh
Peter Nolan
Georgina Nugent-Folan
Máirtín Ó Briain
Kerrie O’Brien
John O'Brien
Emmet O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien
Jamie O’Connell
Jessamine O'Connor
Nuala O’Connor
Sarah O’Connor
Paul O'Connor
Barbara O'Donnell
Edward O'Dwyer
Orlagh O'Farrell
Clíona Ó Gallchoir
Abby Oliveira
Pádraig Ó Méalóid
Louise Omer
Ashley O'Neal
Deirdre O'Neill
Jody O'Neill
Bernard O'Rourke
Fiona O'Rourke
Rosie O’Regan
Aiden O’Reilly
Robert O'Sullivan
Tina O’Toole
Sandeep Parmar
Ruth Patten
James Conor Patterson
Geneva Pattison
Melissa Plunkett
Dr. Robyn Rowland
Siobhan Potter
Leeanne Quinn
Michael Ray
Natasha Remoundou
Yahaira L. Reyes
Majo Rivas
Nuala Roche
Ethel Rohan
Donna Rose
Nick Roth
Dave Rudden
Orla Russell-Conway
Oana Sanziana Marian
Victoria Sargent
Seamus Scanlon
Patricia Scanlon
Geri Schear
Colm Scully
John W. Sexton
Michael Naghten Shanks
Eileen Sheehan
Danielle Sheehy
Marie Sherlock
Brian J Showers
Evgeny Shtorn
Muirén Ní Sídach
Sam Slote
Ailbhe Smyth
Cherry Smyth
Tiziana Soverino
Moynagh Sullivan
Deirdre Sullivan
Paul Sweeney
Anne Tannam
Rosamund Taylor
Maia Thomas
Lisa Tierney-Keogh
Karen Till
Susan Tomaselli
Gráinne O'Toole
Billie Traynor
Jessica Traynor
Éamon Mag Uidhir
Daniel Wade
William Wall
Rhys Wallace
Catherine Walsh
Colin Walsh
Joanna Walsh
Emma Warnock
Iva Yates
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