Save the right to perform: #saveirishbusking

Dear Councillors, My name is Andy Kavanagh & I’m a member of Keywest. Lets talk about Street Performing. It is no longer just busking. No longer just a Banjo and a rebel song. It’s a varied and vibrant artistic community. Before I start I want to be clear as I think we’ve begun on the wrong foot. I believe in control on street performance. On more than one occasion I’ve met with assistant city manager Brendan Kenny and the Lord mayor Christy Burke and discussed my position. I even had a part to play in bringing these regulations to the table. Now it’s time to make them reasonable and workable. Seems rational right? Well according to Councillor Mannix Flynn, “the amplifier in street performance and busking is like a virus. It kills creativity and wards off other artistic individuals.” WOW It’s this attitude in people that had Galileo in fear of his life. If I’m interpreting this correctly, banging an acoustic guitar loudly and wailing Oasis songs out at the top of ones voice is real talent and therefore preferable to an acoustic guitar plucked expertly in the stylings of the incredibly talented and now world famous Dublin buskers Rodrigo y Gabriela! Surely not. A old banjo player wailing rebel songs is more desirable to the public majority over the soft sweet voices and plucked guitars of buskers turned superstars Ed Sheeran and Passenger.You’d have bagpipe over a Violin that is beautifully enhanced by backing music. No longer can the people of Dublin or the Tourists that visit us enjoy a magician that performs a captivating show, a circus act that delights with its mastery of acrobatics or a Dance act demonstrating perfect synchronicity and skill. And the expert Street Performers that travel the world every year can no longer consider Ireland a place to show off their skills. All of the above mentioned acts require amps. Amps allow talented people to reach out to audiences. You may have a problem with Keywest but what did all of those talented people do. You have insinuated we don’t respect business’s. That’s simply not true. We leave business cards in every store so they can text if they feel our volume control or crowd control is not up to scratch. We pop in after the first set to check if everything is ok. We have never ignored a request to lower the volume or move on. Never! We ask our crowds to stand at the halfway point on the street and we finish sets after 4 songs to disperse the crowd. We do 4- 5 sets lasting two hours in total. We don’t repeat songs even once in a day and we don’t play in the same place more than twice a week or ever at night. What more do you want ? We have written statements from managers in over 30 stores on Grafton Street supporting Keywest in particular. No Mannix the real enemy here is a lack of talent and lack of respect, not amplifiers. You’ve referenced going back to the days of Bono and Glen Hansard busking without amps. That is a day gone by I’m afraid just like Morse code and telegrams. The reality is very different. With no amps you will have a swarm of oasis songs, accordions, brass instruments, bongos and bagpipes. There was a time people travelled in horse and carts until the birth of the car and upon it’s groundbreaking arrival it presented a whole new set of problems but in the interest of human progress we adapt and create new systems to integrate the newer more modern ideas. We don’t just abandon what we don’t yet understand and go backwards. You may not like Keywest but many Irish people do. We are now 52,000 people strong on Facebook because of busking. Ireland’s new arrivals on Aer Lingus and Arab Emirates flights are pointed in our direction through a landing tourist information video. Youtube views of Keywest performing on Grafton street amount to over 10 million views. Most importantly the voting Dublin public decided we were “Dublins Best Street Performers 2014” with 60% of the vote. Like many buskers we’ve done our fair share to promote Irish tourism. I’ve performed all over the world. The rules vary but by and large they are aiming at the same thing. Dublin is Ireland’s capital city and I believe we should be trying to come in line and break new ground on the international standard. I’m addressing you as a very proud Dubliner. I live on Ormond Quay opposite Temple Bar and I enjoy all the city has to offer. I am not at all hesitant when I say, to me, Dublin is the perfect blend of everything and one of the greatest cities in the world to call home. I am organising this campaign to bring light onto a topic that has been shrouded in darkness when it comes to the Irish public. Keywest are no longer a regular sight on Dublin streets but as busking has now given me a voice I intend to use it to save the free spirit that makes Dublin so great. This campaign is not in the interest of self preservation it is on principle. I believe in respecting everyone. I believe we can implement controls that improve the quality of buskers and the quality of life for business and residents. I believe in compromise. A ban on amps is not a compromise. A decibel level of 80 decibels is exceeded by just talking on Grafton St so I don’t believe that is fair either. I’d rather not expend my efforts in a campaign against councillors but on a campaign with councillors that enhances living in or visiting this fair city. Andy Kavanagh, Proud Dubliner and Street Performer