Councillor’s dress code and 20-song rule for buskers
Fine Gael’s Cllr Joe O’Callaghan slated Cllr Kenneth O’Flynn’s (FF) proposed bylaws and said if introduced, they would strip the “life and spontaneity” from the city’s streets.
“The dress code could be applied to some of the councillors in here,” he jibed.
“And the 20-song rule would discriminate against several councillors, including myself. Sure, I only know three songs — the national anthem, The Banks of My Own Lovely Lee and Elvis Presley’s Wooden Heart.”
Mr O’Flynn, who is leading a crusade to regulate rickshaws in the city, has now proposed a raft of bylaws to regulate busking in the city. Among the 15 proposals are:
* Performers will be permitted to play only between 11am and 11pm;
* Silent acts such as human statues, pavement artists and balloon modellers will be exempt from the time limit;
* Musical performers must have a repertoire of at least 20 songs to avoid repetition;
* Performers will only use amplifiers of no greater power than 15 watts;
* Several amp free zones are established for a three-month trial;
* Performers with drums will be asked to replace the kits with un-amplified percussion instruments;
* Street performers must stay at least 50 metres away from each other;
* Buskers must ensure that the volume of their performance is never allowed to have a negative effect on a business or to cause annoyance to a private residence;
* No performer should be allowed to have a monopolisation of a performance site, which must be shared in turn with others;
* Performers will not act, dress or say or do anything that is likely to cause alarm or distress to the public, business owner, Cork City Council staff or gardaí;
* Any performer who continuously flouts the rules will be subject to legal proceedings from Cork City Council.
They are based on the voluntary code of practice which was piloted in Dublin between August and October last, following consultation between Dublin City Council, street performers and businesses.
The capital’s code is due to be introduced in the autumn.
Mr O’Flynn said his proposed bylaws were being pitched following representations from several business owners in the city centre who have complained about noise pollution and the nuisance caused by some buskers.
However, city officials said the council should closely examine the capital’s bylaws before making any decision to introduce similar byelaws in Cork.
Councillors discussed the issue at length on Monday and decided to refer Mr O’Flynn’s proposals back to the environmental and recreational functional committee for further discussion.
Mr O’Flynn is seeking his own legal advice in his attempts to regulate rickshaws in the city, despite legal advice from the city’s law agent that national legislation is already in place to govern the use of such vehicles.
A young busker has accused city fathers of trying to fix something that isn’t broken.
Guitarist Richy Sheehy, 22, from Carrignavar, Co Cork, was speaking during a break while performing with a 5W amp and microphone on St Patrick’s Street yesterday.
He described the proposed busking bylaws as “ludicrous” and warned that some of the measures could spark turf wars amongst street performers.
“They are trying to fix something that isn’t broken — they will probably make things worse,” he said.
“The people making these laws are not aware of what their talking about.
“They could be spending a lot of their time doing something useful.”
The finance student, who performs regularly in the city centre, said he had been getting a similar reaction from the busking community. He described the proposal to ban drummers as “harsh” and warned that attempts to dictate to buskers where they can and can’t perform could cause trouble on the ground.
Mr Sheehy, who has a repertoire of up to 500 songs, said he has only had two requests from business owners in the last four years to relocate.
“I’ve had a lot of interactions over the years — most of it positive,” he said.
