Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 June 2018
48. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the status of the funding being provided for small scale local festivals in County Kildare in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26722/18]
View answerSupport for festivals is provided from a number of sources, including from the Arts Council under the remit of my Department, and Fáilte Ireland, under the remit of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
My Department operates a Small Scale Local Festivals and Summer Schools Scheme, designed to support local cultural festivals and summer schools which are not in receipt of other public monies and which may not be eligible for funding from those bodies.
The total amount of current funding available to this fund for 2018 is €76,000. 71 applications were received in 2018. 50 projects were considered to be eligible under the scheme.
I am pleased to inform the Deputy that Kildare Midsummer Arts Festival Naas & Sallins were successful applicants under the 2018 Scale Local Festivals and Summer Schools Scheme and will be provided with a grant of up to €1,000 towards festival activities.
In addition, Cruinniú na nÓg is taking place on Saturday, June 23rd in every local authority right across the country. There are over 500 free events happening for Cruinniú na nÓg nationwide, including in County Kildare. Fuill details are available on www.creative.ireland/cruinniu;
Building on the success of last year's Cruinniú na Cásca events, it was decided this year to focus on children and young people and the development of Cruinniú na nÓg is now a key initiative of the Creative Youth Plan to enable the creativity of every child and young person.
Underlying the Creative Youth Plan, of which Cruinniú na nÓg is one of 18 actions, is a firm conviction that participation in creative and cultural activities from dancing to singing to coding equips our young people to flourish in their personal lives and helps give them skills that will stand to them throughout their lives.
Cruinniú na nÓg is a day dedicated to celebrating and encouraging children and young people to participate in a range of cultural and creative activities through performance, coding, theatre, art and music workshops, readings, screenings, special events and much more. It’s a day for ‘doing’, ‘making’ and ‘creating’.
Local Authorities have been key to the delivery of this initiative and are a vital element of the Creative Ireland Programme. This year, my Department doubled the funding allocation from €1m to €2m for the 31 local authorities to deliver the Creative Ireland Programme at local level and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government provided €1m. Local authorities are currently finalising 5 year culture and creativity strategies and I look forward to publishing these shortly.
