EIAI welcomes the publication of Grow the Show: Skills Needs of the Festivals & Events Sector in the West of Ireland, a new report examining the skills, training and wider support needs of festival and event organisers. EIAI contributed directly to the research, and a number of the issues raised in our submission are reflected in the report’s findings and recommendations.

Published in April 2026, Grow the Show was prepared by DFHERIS Regional Skills West in partnership with Galway City Council. The research combined a review of existing policy and training provision with an industry survey, stakeholder engagement and a dedicated Grow the Show workshop involving more than 40 sector participants. The Events Industry Association of Ireland was among the industry organisations consulted as part of the research. The report notes that engagement with EIAI helped to corroborate skills needs and inform the response developed through the project.

For EIAI, the publication is particularly welcome because it moves the discussion beyond individual training courses and towards a broader question: what skills, competencies, structures and professional pathways are required to support safe, sustainable and professional event delivery in Ireland?

A sector with significant expertise, but uneven pathways

In its submission to the research, EIAI highlighted that Ireland already has a highly capable and experienced events workforce. However, much of that expertise has traditionally been developed through practical experience, peer learning and informal progression rather than through clearly structured and recognised professional pathways.

EIAI argued that the challenge should therefore not be viewed simply as a shortage of event management courses. Instead, there is a connected need across competency, safety, compliance, governance, technical delivery and professional development. That analysis is reflected strongly in the final report.

One of its central recommendations states that:

“Ireland requires a coherent events industry skills and competency framework that reflects the real-world complexity of event delivery.”

The report identifies safety, risk, compliance, technical production, statutory engagement, volunteer coordination, business sustainability, digital documentation and leadership as areas that should form part of such a framework.

For EIAI, this is an important development. Event delivery is inherently multidisciplinary. A strong event plan depends not only on programming or promotion, but also on competent risk assessment, site planning, crowd management, emergency preparedness, contractor coordination, documentation and engagement with public bodies.

Practical event-specific training remains a clear gap

The report identifies a wide range of existing education and training options across higher education, further education, Skillnet programmes and tourism supports. However, it concludes that much of this provision is either broad in nature or, where specifically focused on events, delivered through longer full-time programmes.

The research identifies a clear opportunity for short, flexible and industry-led programmes designed around the operational realities of festivals and events.

Among the gaps identified are:

• event security and crowd management;
• event-specific health and safety and risk assessment;
• regulatory compliance and contracting;
• crisis management;
• volunteer management;
• budgeting and financial management;
• post-event evaluation and reporting;
• sponsorship and partnership development;
• sustainable event planning;
• festival governance and succession planning.

These findings closely reflect the issues raised by EIAI during the consultation.

Permits, licences and statutory processes

A particularly important recommendation is the need to improve understanding of permits, licences and statutory processes. For event organisers, navigating statutory requirements can be one of the most difficult aspects of planning an event. Requirements may vary according to event size, location, land ownership, road use, temporary infrastructure, trading, food provision, alcohol, noise and many other factors.

EIAI’s submission therefore identified statutory engagement as a distinct competency area and called for clearer, practical support in understanding the permissions, notifications, timelines and evidence that may be required. The objective should not be to make event planning unnecessarily complex. It should be to ensure that organisers understand what is expected of them and can access proportionate guidance appropriate to the scale and risk of the event they are delivering.

Supporting local authorities as well as organisers

The report also raises an issue EIAI believes deserves further national consideration: the skills and capacity required within local authorities themselves.  EIAI’s submission stressed that skills development cannot focus only on event organisers. Safe and efficient event delivery also depends on the ability of public bodies to review event information consistently, coordinate stakeholders and communicate expectations clearly.

The final report reflects this concern, stating that local authorities may be required to assess complex event documentation and coordinate a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, while noting that:

“there is no consistent national training pathway for local authority staff involved in event review, event safety advisory processes or public event permissions.”

The report recommends examining clearer event-planning frameworks for different scales of events, regular engagement between organisers and local authorities, and improved communication between relevant stakeholders.

EIAI believes this is an important area for continued discussion. Better systems should make the process easier for both sides: improving the quality of information submitted by organisers while reducing avoidable uncertainty, repeated requests and administrative pressure for local-authority teams.

A proportionate approach

EIAI also proposed that skills development should reflect the scale, complexity and risk profile of an event rather than applying a single model to every organiser. The final report records EIAI’s recommendation for a tiered approach covering small community and voluntary events, recurring local festivals and public events, and professional organisers and producers.

This principle of proportionality is important. The competencies required to organise a small community event will not necessarily be the same as those required to manage a major public event. Equally, smaller voluntary organisers still need practical support to understand their core responsibilities without being overwhelmed by systems designed for much larger events.

Building a stronger events ecosystem

Grow the Show goes beyond training alone, its recommendations also include:

• stronger industry networking and knowledge-sharing;
• an expanded centralised information and resource hub;
• better coordination between festivals, local authorities and stakeholders;
• shared resources and infrastructure;
• development of a regional festivals and events strategy;
• stronger access to sponsorship and funding opportunities.

Workshop participants also identified the potential value of a centralised “one-stop-shop” providing practical guidance, training and connections for the sector. These are important discussions because skills development cannot operate in isolation. A professional and sustainable sector also needs access to guidance, networks, infrastructure, career pathways and opportunities to share learning.

From regional research to a wider national conversation

Although Grow the Show focuses on the West of Ireland, many of the issues it identifies have wider relevance.  The report provides valuable evidence for an ongoing national conversation about how Ireland supports the people and organisations responsible for delivering public events.  EIAI believes that work should now continue towards a structured but flexible national approach to event skills and competency development, recognising both existing industry expertise and the increasingly complex environment in which events are delivered.

This should include practical pathways for organisers and event professionals, stronger technical and operational career routes, proportionate support for community events, and shared learning between industry, education providers, local authorities and statutory stakeholders.  The publication of Grow the Show is therefore a welcome step forward, it provides further evidence that developing Ireland’s events sector is not simply about increasing the number of events we deliver. It is also about investing in the people, competencies, systems and professional infrastructure that allow those events to be delivered safely, sustainably and successfully.

EIAI looks forward to continuing that conversation with Regional Skills West, local authorities, education and training providers, Government and the wider events industry.

Read the full report here: Grow the Show_Online_sps

Find out more about DFHERIS Regional Skills West here