Musicians Union of Ireland A United Voice For Irish Musicians
Activated in March 2003 the Musicians Union of Ireland (MUI) was founded by a number of musicians from various music genres. SIPTU was approached and agreed to enable the union which lead to the inclusion of the National Orchestras [RTÉ NSO and CO] and Vanburgh Quartet. The energy that brought them together was the realisation that a collective cultural, industrial and political voice was needed for musicians to interface with the organs of industry and the State in order to collectively bargain where desirable, possible or appropriate.
The union is run on a voluntary, unsalaried basis by its members with the essential professional administrative and secretarial services provided by SIPTU. A policy of not seeking or accepting any external funding reflects our commitment to deliver a clear and transparent voice for our members. All meetings are conducted under standard trade union procedure, which gives form and structure to the issues being explored. Membership of SIPTU also gives access to general benefits such as group insurance schemes etc. (see web site).
The social inclusion of musicians, and artists in general, through collective bargaining and agreement, and ideally legislation is one broad aim of the union. The creation of a grass roots indigenous arts and entertainment infrastructure in affiliation and consensus with other national, artistic, cultural, industrial and commercial interests is also a central long-term aim.
To this end access to our airwaves and performance spaces for our indigenous composers, songwriters and performers is a vital component of achieving these goals.
MUI has established a relationship with the Arts Council of Ireland following our protests over the non inclusion of indigenous musicians by the Wexford Opera Festival. We are confident that issue will be resolved to the good of Irish musicians. As a result we have achieved the goal of creating a respected voice for the opinion of musicians in the development of long-term sustainable arts structures and funding criteria for music. The creation of an arts office for traditional music and culture has given opportunity on the short term for MUI input into the process and is a very welcome development.
The ability of the RTÉ authority and the BCI to set content levels for indigenous product is impeded by EU competition law, so in effect do we have the democratic choice as a nation as to what is on our airwaves? The level of inclusion of our indigenous artists' voices is a measure of how free we are as a society is to speak with our own voice and thus define our cultural diversity.
We need to challenge the EU to deliver on the aspiration for the preservation of regional diversity in the arts and culture by seeking broadcast rights for regional music. As well as addressing the cultural issues, a pan-European minimum regional broadcast content would clarify market share for both local and international music companies and perhaps allow both to invest more in regional music.
MUI is currently the only platform available on which to develop a collective voice for musicians of all genres, living and working in Ireland, that can work transparently across the political, industrial and cultural spectrum to try to address such issues on behalf of composers, songwriters and performers. Membership, however active or passive, empowers MUI to tackle the issues that affect all musicians in Ireland, because the greater our number, the louder our voice.
Join us!
Greg Boland.
MUI President
Visit: www.mu-ireland.com
