World’s biggest juggling event finds cheaper insurance in Poland after quitting Ireland due to high premium costs

The European Juggling Convention (EJC) was due to be held in Gormanstown, Co Meath, this summer, but organisers could not get insurance. It has now moved to Lublin, Poland, after organisers managed to get cover at a cheap rate.

Both Fáilte Ireland and the Arts Council had campaigned for the event to take place in Ireland after it brought in around €5m for the local economy when it was last held here in 2014.

The Arts Council wrote a letter for insurance brokers in March this year, noting that the event was “hugely significant” for the circus arts community.

It outlined how the EJC had been running for 45 years without any issues, is the largest event of its kind, and “brings together thousands of professional circus artists, teachers and practitioners from across the globe”.

“Ireland has hosted the EJC twice in the past, with great success, and the core team behind this year’s event have the breadth of event organisation, safety and risk management, rigging, technical production and health and safety management experience required to ensure the event runs smoothly and safely,” the Arts Council said.

Risk assessments are carried out, waivers are signed and safety equipment is used.

However, the EJC could still not get cover.

Lucy Medlycott, director of the Irish Street Arts, Circus and Spectacle Network (ISACS), said the insurance industry is “preventing young people and children from engaging in and acquiring physical and team skills”.

“Do we really want a generation who are afraid to use a playground or ride a bike?

“Youth circus is a growing movement, yet the insurance product to cover the broad range of activities that are possible in this sector is not available to us as taxpayers and citizens of this state.

“We therefore ask that the Government finds a solution and provide a scheme for those sectors who have been micro-segmented into oblivion and who are indispensable, before Ireland loses all its diversity and uniqueness,” she added.

Peter Boland, director of the Alliance for Insurance Reform, said “so many aspects of Irish society are losing out.”

“This is most apparent when you look at the ease with which festivals can organise and get insurance cover in other European countries,” he said.

Research carried out by the alliance showed community circuses in the Republic are paying premiums around six times higher than those in Northern Ireland.

A spokesperson for Insurance Ireland said a recent report by the Central Bank shows that employers' liability and public liability markets have been “loss-making, making them very challenging to existing providers”.

“The cost of litigation in personal injuries is most significant in this country and completely out of kilter when compared to the total cost of insurance claims in other European jurisdictions and also needs to be tackled as part of the Government’s action plan for insurance reform,” Insurance Ireland said.

It added that reforming duty-of-care legislation “should make the Irish insurance market more reasonable, practical and proportionate for claimants, businesses, sporting clubs and community groups alike”.