People working in the live entertainment and events industry say it’s impossible to earn a living, pay bills and survive.

The sector’s been effectively closed due to Covid-19 restrictions since March, putting 35,000 jobs at risk.

A group representing those in the events industry is calling for special measures in October’s budget to secure the future of the sector.

Deputy Chairperson of the Event Production Industry Working Group, Pearse Doherty, said his industry has been “anonymous up until now.”

“We are calling for the reinstatement of the support payments back to the levels of what they were. We have people whose mortgages are being threatened. We’re getting heartbreaking phonecalls”

EPIC, the Event Production Industry Covid 19 Working Group, has launched a six-part submission to the government. Alongside the support payment, the group is also calling for an extension of the waver of business rates to allow SMEs and venues to recover from the closure and an extension of the credit guarantee scheme to ensure SMEs can borrow 100% loan requirements.

We also are calling for the scaffolding support fund to the level that the state-funded sector get,” he added.