The countdown is on! In now less than a year, the FIA World Live Performance Conference (WLPC) will finally take place. The Conference will take place in Dublin, Ireland, from June 4 to June 6 2015, and gather professionals, industry and union representatives from around the world to discuss challenges, best practices and current trends in the live performance sector.
The Working group on the WLPC had its first conference call at the end of May. The discussions have been enthusiastic and constructive. Many topics were raised including the format of the Conference, the potential speakers and panellists, a survey on conditions in the live performance sector (FIA members should soon receive the questionnaire), but also organisational issues. The Working group members were really happy about the choice of the venue, located in the heart of Dublin: the Liberty Hall.
Headquarters of the Services, Industrial, Professional, and Technical Union (SIPTU) – the host union of the Conference – Liberty Hall occupies a key place in Irish trade union history. Standing on Beresford Place and Eden Quay, the original Liberty Hall used to be a hotel before becoming the personal fortress of a famous Irish republican, socialist leader and trade-unionist well know for its leadership role in the Easter Rising of 1916: James Connolly. Working with James Larkin in the Irish Transport and General Worker’s Union, Connolly organised a series of strikes which culminated in the unsuccessful 1913 Dublin lock-out and the creation of the Irish Citizen Army, an armed and well-trained body of labour men whose aim was to defend workers and strikers. Several newspapers were printed within Liberty Hall, such as the Irish Worker, the Worker and the Workers’ Republic by Connolly. Prior to the Easter Rising, Liberty Hall acted as munitions factory, wherein bombs and bayonets were made for the impending rebellion. It was on the street in front of the building that the leaders of the Rising assembled before their march to the General Post Office on Easter Monday. They left the building vacant throughout Easter Week, a fact unknown to the British authorities, which chose the building as the first to be shelled. It was completely levelled by the British artillery during the Rising, but faithfully restored after the rebellion. In the late 1950s, the Liberty Hall was declared unsafe and promptly demolished. The current building was constructed between 1961 and 1965.
We are looking forward to welcome you in this historical place.
