My Department funds a number of music education organisations, both directly and through a number of initiatives, including the Non-Mainstream Music Education Bursary scheme.
The Non-Mainstream Music Education Bursary is a DES-funded initiative to provide additional funding to non-mainstream educational initiatives. The purpose of the scheme is to provide support by way of a cash grant, to established, smaller-scale, non-mainstream music education/community music initiatives with limited or no access to other forms of public funding. Grants are not intended for use on capital expenditure such as structural/building costs but can be used for instruments. Award of the bursary is done based on published criteria. The scheme was first established in 2016 and continued in both 2017 and 2018.
An amount of €100,000 has been allocated for the Non-Mainstream Music Education Bursary in 2019. An announcement regarding the application process will be made soon.