Sir, – Una Mullally gets it about right ("Live events industry has been abandoned", Opinion & Analysis, September 7th). And yet, it makes no financial or moral sense to continue to pay talented and dedicated people to sit around doing nothing. We should therefore draw inspiration from the depression-busting New Deal in the US in the 1930s, where the Works Progress Agency (WPA) actively funded artists and artistic production. The WPA achieved some amazing things, and its list of alumni is truly impressive. Notably, the WPA made no distinction between representational art and abstract art, and therefore gave Jackson Pollock his lucky break. Other achievements of the WPA include radio dramas, the Milwaukee Handicraft Project, the Federal Music Project weekly music lessons for over 100,000 children, and the Historical Records Survey, which collected and conserved US historical records.
It is time surely to consider a pandemic-busting Works Progress Agency for Ireland. – Yours, etc,
LENNON Ó NÁRAIGH,
Bray,
:fill(white):background_color(white)/static.themebuilder.aws.arc.pub/irishtimes/1647534191476.png)
Co Wicklow.