MLA seeks answers over Covid grant support for DJs

The DUP representative said a number of people working in the sector had been in contact with his constituency office last week.

It came after Communities Minister Carál Ní Chuilín gave the green light for over £3m of funding to support 1000 individual artists.

Using the existing funding mechanism means that “freelancers, musicians, actors, artists and craft workers within the creative economy will receive much needed financial support”, the Minister said.

“DJs were included in the promotional material for the programme, but a number who applied were told they weren’t getting it and there was no clear reason as to why, so there’s a lot of disappointment,” Mr Hilditch said.

The East Antrim MLA added that he had submitted a number of priority questions to the Minister, including:

- How many DJs have applied for the Arts Council NI Artists’ Emergency Programme?

- How many DJs were successful in their application to the above scheme?

A request was also made for an overview of the scoring matrix used to assess applications to the programme.