After months of uncertainty for the arts sector in Northern Ireland, it was announced this week that the Executive will receive £33million to invest in cultural, arts and heritage institutions across the country.

Department for Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín has welcomed the news.

Noting that whilst ultimately it will be for the Executive to decide on how this money should be spent, she highlighted that the argument for a comprehensive package of support to local musicians, freelancers, theatres, artists, museums and the heritage sector at a time when they are struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic “cannot be overstated”.

As lockdown measures were implemented in March, many members of the arts community in Fermanagh were greatly impacted.

“Within the space of about three days my piano tutoring and a handful of music projects I was working on came to an abrupt stop,” local musician and piano tutor Jonathan Beatty told The Impartial Reporter.

“After the initial anxieties of ‘what am I going to do’, and the surprising relief of ‘I’m now free from work’, settled down I began to teach music through, the now famous app, Zoom,” shared Jonathan.

“While I enjoyed seeing and teaching my students again I can confidently say I am happy to take a break from looking at a, sometimes pixelated, screen and listening to a, sometimes echoing, sound. I am looking forward to some semblance of normality in the not too distant future,” he told this newspaper.

For classically trained ceremonial singer Aoife Cathcart, lockdown has been a very surreal experience.

“I remember getting a phone call from another musician in March whom I was meant to be performing with that weekend and he said the wedding had been cancelled. It was very unsettling,” shared Aoife.

“I immediately thought of my diary filled with weddings for the coming weeks. My heart really broke for those couples who had to postpone their wedding and all the disappointments associated with that,” she added.

As lockdown eases, Aoife is most looking forward to meeting with couples again, performing at their weddings, and seeing familiar faces at concerts/gigs.

“I love performing and it is always an honour to be asked to sing anywhere and to get positive feedback.

“Being cut off from this has really opened my eyes to how important music is to me. Just before Covid lockdown I was delighted to win the Best Wedding Entertainer in Fermanagh, so this was an unbelievable high before the crash of Covid. 2020 has certainly been an emotional rollercoaster,” she told The Impartial Reporter.

Fermanagh-based arts organisations and groups have also been hit, with many having to cancel events and performances.

Local theatre group Fermanagh Musical Theatre recently announced that their production of 9 to 5 The Musical, which was due to be performed in August, has now been cancelled.

Fermanagh Film Club’s bi-monthly viewings had to stop mid-season, however, chairwoman of the club Ann McDermott commented that they “weren’t the worst affected by any means”.

“We usually stop in April and break until September, so it hasn’t impacted us too much apart from a truncated programme.

“We are due to be moving to the Ardhowen in September which should be perfect for social distancing, but it remains to be seen when it will open and there may be an impact on our programming as some of the smaller distributors have ‘gone to ground’ and their films may not be available,” explained Ann.

She added: “Also we don’t know whether people will be wanting to come out again, so much depends on if we can keep a lid on the infections.”

“At this stage, there are a lot of unknowns and it’s all to play for!” Ann told this newspaper.