- Culture
- 21 Feb 11
Jackie Hayden talks to musicians around Ireland about their wishes and fears about the upcoming election and the future of Ireland.
“Everybody seems to think we need major changes, but there seems to be little clarity as to exactly what changes we need. People have commented on the fact that, unlike Greece, France, Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere, there has been no rioting on the streets by Irish citizens. This is because we have a reflective voting system that gives us the government that we want. On the issue of digital rights and music, there’s no real indication as to whether the initiatives being brought in by various governments will work. There’s a need at international level to campaign to create an ethos whereby people choose to pay for copyright work, rather than stealing it. There’s a strong argument that broadband access could be controlled by the licensing of computers, with copyright holders getting a share of the income, but there’s a long hard road ahead on that front.”