ACCLAIMED Belfast playwright Martin Lynch has hit out at the Arts Council after an application for funding for a play about the McGurk's Bar atrocity was unsuccessful.
'The McGurk's Bar Tragedy', penned by Martin and produced by his company Green Shoot Productions tells the heartbreaking story of the deadliest attack in Belfast during the Troubles, the bombing of McGurk's Bar on North Queen Street by the UVF on 4 December 1971. Fifteen Catholics were killed in the attack and 17 people were injured.
The theatre group's application was judged on the Arts Council's guidelines of 'Quality of Arts activity, Public Benefit, Finance, and Governance'. Martin Lynch said that the Arts Council told Green Shoots that they scored medium in each category.
Martin said that the company consulted with the local community in the New Lodge when writing the play, and that it became clear that a theatre production about McGurk's Bar would be welcomed by the community.
PLAYWRIGHT: Martin Lynch
"We're not putting it on in an ordinary theatre," he said, "We're putting it on in the main hall of the of the Waterfront Hall. It's going to be a big spectacular play, and they (Arts Council) then tell me that isn't innovative. That was the word used. That the creative vision is medium.
"I've worked in England, all over Ireland. No professional theatre company ever takes up residency in working-class communities for two years. That just doesn't happen. We're the first to do it in Belfast and they tell us that there's not enough creative vision. That just blows me away."
Mr Lynch says the application was also scored medium on 'public benefit', something which he says he cannot understand.
"Working-class communities go to a theatre less than middle-class people. We did a play last year in the New Lodge, one we created ourselves, and it was for young people. They gave us what they wanted to write about, and we produced it in the Dockers' Club and in The MAC.
"I would say 2,000 people saw that. I'm talking about public benefits – 2,000 people who don't normally go to the Lyric or the Grand Opera House."
He continued, "With this one, we have 35 community cast, a very, very dedicated community cast, who have been working endlessly since January of this year. We're going to bring an audience of 5,000 to the Waterfront Hall, and they're telling us that this isn't of public benefit, and it makes a medium score.
"That's just unbelievable to me. At one level I'm outraged, and on another level it makes me deeply, deeply sad."
The theatre group have set up a GoFundMe page in order to finance the production of the play, but Martin said that the decision of the Arts Council not to fund the project has "sapped the morale" of all involved.
"When I announced this at rehearsals, the people themselves were just outraged. And they were puzzled because just like me, they didn't know the exact reasons."
Mr Lynch explained how he has had to cut the budget on the production, including rehearsal time, transportation and meetings. They have also had to cut back on the wages of various creatives, such as light and set designers.
"The fact we have had to set up a GoFundMe page is demeaning. It's humiliating. I have a fair amount of experience in bringing people to the theatre. I think it's outrageous."
He thanked the people who have supported the production via the GoFundMe, which has raised over £10,000 already, saying that he "can't believe" the community support.
"A local man – a pensioner – walked in at the start of last week and handed us £150. He had taken it out of the bank and came straight to us. We told him we couldn't take that but he said that he needed the play to go ahead. He was in the rubble in 1971 as a young man, and he worked at trying to save lives and save the injured. He wanted the play to go ahead.
"This is a major injustice in the history of the Troubles, and the worst atrocity in Belfast during the Troubles."
There will be five stagings of the play in total. On the 14 and 15 November there will be an afternoon showing at 2.30 and an evening showing at 7.30. On the 16 November there will be an evening showing at 7.30.
The Arts Council said that it "does not refuse funding, but it does reject unsuccessful applications."
The Arts Council continued: "ACNI did meet with the applicant and provided them with comprehensive feedback as to why their application was unsuccessful. They were advised that they could seek a review if they wished. No review has been submitted.
"The Arts Council has not refused nor withdrawn funding for any previous Green Shoot productions, but some previous applications have been unsuccessful.
"All applications to the National Lottery Project Funding were assessed in keeping with the published guidance. Assessment includes Quality of Arts activity, Public Benefit, Finance, and Governance."
The Arts Council also referenced previous Green Shoot Production projects that they have funded.
"The Arts Council has funded Green Shoot Productions many times over the previous two decades with awards to the organisation totalling over £800k since 2006."
It continued: "The company’s most recent National Lottery Project Funding award was for £20,000 in 2024/25. It has since received both an Arts & Older People programme award and an International Artists Development Fund award (to assist the company in taking a production of Richard O’Rawe and Martin Lynch’s In The Name of The Son to the San Francisco International Arts Festival).
"National Lottery Project Funding is ACNI’s second largest funding programme and is highly competitive; as highlighted in the guidance notes for the scheme, there is no guarantee of funding for any applicant. In this year’s round, applicants’ requests to the programme totalled over £3.5m for a budget of just over £2m."
