RAAC is a lightweight building material that was utilised between the 1950’s and the 1990’s in the UK and has been the reason behind the controversial recent closures of schools across the nation.

Upon review, the government has recently revised the guidance on the material, regarding it to be dangerous and at risk of collapse. Around 150 schools have been forced to close, either fully or partly. The material has also affected universities, airports as well as hospitals just to name a few.

The affected venues are:

Guildhill, Preston

The Orchard, Dartford

Dixon Studio, Westcliff-on-Sea

The Forum Theatre, Stockport

Royal and Derngate, Northampton

The Sands Centre, Carlisle

Core Theatre, Solihull

The Brunton, Musselburgh

YMCA Theatre, Scarborough

St David’s Hall, Cardiff

These venues have been forced to cancel their entire calendar for September and it is currently unknown when the venues will be allowed to reopen for events again. Many local councils are making sure the likes of schools and hospitals are a priority in terms of reopening therefore it could possibly be a long time before some of these music venues and theaters are able to open.

This will no doubt be a massive blow for the venues as the live entertainment industry is still trying to financially recover from the losses made as a result of the COVID pandemic in 2020.

Preston’s Guildhall has been closed since 2019 but was due to re-open in November for the Preston Weekender music festival. The festival is still scheduled to go ahead but fresh questions are now being raised over the safety of the venue.

Preston City Council has said in a statement: “The venues themselves are not currently in use, but we have been working inside both on a range of safety and associated works. A small number of future events were planned for this year, and we are in discussion with the organisers about these.”

A spokesperson for the venue has also stated in an interview with IQ: “We are taking a cautious and ‘safety first’ approach by securing the Grand Hall and Charter Theatre auditoria, until specialist consultant structural engineers can carry out a more detailed inspection. Unfortunately, we understand that this may take some time, as the experts required to carry out this very particular type of work are naturally prioritising school inspections.”

These restrictions come despite Ireland having a high vaccination rate, around 90% at the time of writing. There is a sense of frustration around the decision; Donall O’Keeffe, chief executive of the Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) told the BBC: “We were told that if we waited until the majority of the public was vaccinated we would be able to get back to trading. Well we waited and that wasn’t enough.” On the LVA’s Twitter, they posted a tweet reading: “Based on this announcement the reintroduction of the full level of supports for the people who will once again find themselves out of work and for the businesses who employ them is essential.”

Based on this announcement the reintroduction of the full level of supports for the people who will once again find themselves out of work and for the businesses who employ them is essential…

AND the Gov must develop nuanced longer term, practical solutions for hospitality

— LVA (@LVADublinPubs) November 16, 2021

Martin, about the restrictions, said in a statement: “We’ve got to make decisions today but also I think collectively as a society we’ve got to look out for each other and just be very aware that the situation is getting worse, and will get worse before it gets better.”

Three months ago, Ireland had announced that they were to lift all restrictions. Now, however, amid a concerning rise in cases in numbers that approached the January peak, they are taking sharp and decisive action. Work from home is being advised, and the rules around testing and close contact have been made more stringent.

The curfew comes less than a month after the lifting of the previous 11:30 pm curfew, made on the 22nd of October. The rise in cases can be explained in part by the lifting of these restrictions, as well as the waning effectiveness of the vaccine. Health officials have commented on the vaccine that it has been less effective than they hoped at limiting the spread of the vaccine, according to Reuters.

The LVA’s Twitter account has been retweeting critics of this move, most notably from Richard Guiney, who says that “we need clear policies for living with Covid. Long term closure with intermittent re-opening doesn’t work for anyone.” 

We need clear policies for living with Covid. Long term closure with intermittent re-opening doesn’t work for anyone. What are the conditions and ground rules that we can live by? Or are we looking at permanent restriction and closure? https://t.co/RCL6yEoslT

— Richard Guiney (@GuineyR) November 16, 2021

See official guidelines from the Irish government here.

Image credit: Raymond Flotat