UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Irish Traditional Music and the Great Recession: Living and Working in the Irish Arts Sector after 2008 Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/84r8b4h8 Author Levine, Kevin Cory Publication Date 2018 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Irish Traditional Music and the Great Recession: Living and Working in the Irish Arts Sector after 2008 A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology by Kevin Cory Levine 2018 © Copyright by Kevin Cory Levine 2018 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Irish Traditional Music and the Great Recession: Living and Working in the Irish Arts Sector after 2008 by Kevin Cory Levine Doctor of Philosophy in Ethnomusicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2018 Professor Timothy D. Taylor, Chair Ireland’s entry into an €85 billion bailout agreement with the tripartite entity known as the “Troika” (IMF-EC-ECB) in 2008 placed the Republic of Ireland under obligation to undergo a comprehensive economic adjustment program between 2010 and 2013. The reforms that followed from this period led the country on a characteristically neoliberal policy trajectory involving significant transformations in Ireland’s national arts infrastructure. This dissertation draws upon eleven months of fieldwork in Ireland and over forty interviews in order to examine how the recession and subsequent adjustment program affected the livelihoods and working conditions of Irish traditional musicians. As part of the resulting analysis, I explain how the process of structural adjustment led to severe cuts in the public subsidies available to traditional musicians and reoriented national policy further in line with art commodification. This involved a shift from a traditional European model of arts funding, in which the principal support modality is direct subsidy maximization, towards a more American arts funding model, emphasizing the need for artists to act ii entrepreneurially and to deepen engagement with the private market. The Great Recession also involved heightened attempts among policymakers to leverage traditional music and other Irish arts towards foreign investment and tourism revenue. These dynamics deepened the gap between core supports for traditional musicians and expenditure on cultural programming intended to market or “sell” Ireland abroad. This dissertation synthesizes the above observations towards three general commentaries on neoliberal structural adjustment and its impact upon Irish musicians. First, I argue that Ireland’s structural adjustment process exemplifies what Naomi Klein (2007) has called “disaster capitalism,” a term she uses to describe the phenomenon in which economic crises are seized upon as opportunities to deepen neoliberal policy within various societies. Second, I argue that the expansion of neoliberal ideas into the domain of the Irish arts was principally facilitated by late 20th century ideas about the “creative economy,” which augmented state interest in traditional music as a means to develop foreign investment throughout the recession. Lastly, I draw upon Karl Marx (1990 [1867]) and Marcel Mauss’s (2002 [1925]) writings on value to show how Irish traditional musicians experienced structural adjustment in terms of a “devaluation” of Irish arts. iii The dissertation of Kevin Cory Levine is approved. Timothy Rice Helen M Rees Joseph F Nagy Timothy D Taylor, Committee Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2018 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures vi Acknowledgments viii Vita xi INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE 26 The Great Recession and Traditional Music CHAPTER TWO 67 Welfare Retrenchment and Reform in the Irish Arts CHAPTER THREE 112 Economic Recovery and the Creative Economy CHAPTER FOUR 143 A Rising Tide Lifts all Boats? CHAPTER FIVE 174 Conclusion: Ireland “After” the Recession REFERENCES 184 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 0.1: Traditional musicians playing in a pub “session” in Co. Longford, June 21, 2017 (Photograph courtesy of Martin Donohoe)…………………………………………………….3 Figure 0.2: Martin Donohoe (right) introducing musicians during the "Concert of No Musical Demarcation” on August 10, 2012. The event opened the 2012 Fleadh Cheoil, serving to highlight shared traditions between musicians from Catholic and Protestant communities (Photograph by Kevin Levine).………………………………………………………………...6 Figure 0.3: Kevin Levine (left) and the Minister of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Heather Humphries, meeting on September 15, 2015 (Photograph by Kevin Levine)…………………10 Figure 1.1: Fiach Moriarty performing on TG4 in 2013 (Photograph Courtesy of Fiach Moriarty)……………………………………………………………………………………….30 Figure 1.2: Director of The Arts Council, Orlaith McBride (Photograph Courtesy of Orlaith McBride)..……………………………………………………………………………………...39 Figure 1.3: Cavan Town Ireland, August 2012 (Photograph by Kevin Levine)....……………50 Figure 1.4: Kevin Levine (left) and Martin Donohoe (right) taken at the Farnham Arms Hotel in August, 2015 during the Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann (Photograph by Kevin Levine)..……..51 Figure 1.5: Stage at the 2012 Fleadh in Cavan. The banner behind the stage includes Liberty Insurance’s logo with the phrase “supporting our community” (Photograph by Kevin Levine) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….53 Figure 1.6: Traditional music session at a pub in a rural area of Co. Longford, taken in the late August 2012. This was the site of one of the sessions in which Martin Donohoe regularly participated alongside Irish flute player, Noel Sweeny (left) (Photograph by Kevin Levine)....56 Figure 1.7: Martin Donohoe (right) performing with the NYAH group at the 2012 Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann. President Michael D. Higgins (left) has promoted the event and its contributions to the Irish economy on an annual basis (Photograph Courtesy of Martin Donohoe)……………………………………………………………………………...………..59 Figure 1.8: Photograph of the Reg Hall concert hosted at The Cobblestone Pub in Smithfield in late November, 2015 (Photograph by Kevin Levine)……………………………………….60 Figure 1.9: Bernadette Morris (Photograph Courtesy of Bernadette Morris)…………………62 Figure 2.1: Gay McKeon with a set of uilleann pipes (Photograph Courtesy of Gay McKeon) ………………………………………………………………………………………………….87 Figure 3.1: Throsby’s Concentric Rings model of the Creative and Cultural Industries (Illustrated by Kevin Levine)…………………………………………………………………..122 Figure 4.1: Antóin Mac Gabhann playing music outside during the Cavan Fleadh Cheoil (Photograph Courtesy of Antóin Mac Gabhann).……………………………………………...148 Figure 4.2: Caitlín Nic Gabhann (Photo Courtesy of Caitlín Nic Gabhann)………………….150 Figure 4.3: Northern Sound Radio Station, Cavan, Ireland, 2013. Martin Donohoe took this photo one Saturday evening during a 2-hour traditional music program he broadcasts weekly (Photograph by Kevin Levine)...……………………………………………………………….162 Figure 4.4: Docklands area of Dublin, known informally as Dublin’s “Silicon Valley,” given that it is home to the European headquarters for numerous multinational organizations that have entered the city over the last decade (Photograph by Kevin Levine) …………………………170 vi Figure 5.1: Musicians and festival participants joining hands outside of a pub one evening during the Derry Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in 2013 (Photograph by Kevin Levine)………..183 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation has involved support from a significant number of individuals and institutions. Their contributions have come in many varieties, including funding provision, mentorship, moral support, and everything in between. This research bears the mark of their efforts and encouragement, for which I am beyond grateful. Consequently, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following persons and organizations. First and foremost, I want to thank my committee members. Dr. Timothy Taylor, thank you immensely for your mentorship and friendship throughout the past seven years. You have opened a wealth of opportunities for me through your continued guidance and support while making further contributions to my personal development that will serve me well into the future. I cannot thank you enough, and I look forward to our continuing friendship. Helen, I want to thank you for contributing to the refinement of my work. Future audiences for this dissertation have you to thank for its palatability. I would also like to thank you for demonstrating tremendous empathy in the way you have responded to my interest in seeking opportunities outside academia. Tim Rice, you have consistently pushed me to think not only about popular ethnomusicological themes but also the discipline generally. Your encouragement to process material at this level has contributed to some of the decisions I made in framing this dissertation, which I hope in a modest way helps to expand the territory of ethnomusicological inquiry. Dr. Joseph Nagy, I want to thank you most especially for the encouragement you have provided during the doctoral exam and defense processes. Completing the dissertation has been rewarding, but it has also been filled with sentiments of self-doubt and weariness. You extended your friendship and encouragement in ways that were greatly meaningful and uplifting. In addition to my committee members, I would like to thank and acknowledge the many viii individuals in Ireland who contributed their insights towards this research: Gay McKeon, Ciara O’Grady,