Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 November 2021
304. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the details of the 24 DEIS schools which received funding under the Fighting Words-Creative Ireland Programme; the allocations to each in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54139/21]
View answerThe Creative Youth Plan was published by the government in December 2017 as one of the five pillars of the Creative Ireland Programme, with the objective to enable the creative potential of every young person. Implementation of the Plan is led by my Department in partnership with the Department of Education, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and the Arts Council.
Through the ongoing implementation of the Creative Youth Plan, a range of measures and initiatives have been developed and delivered which have enabled increased access to a wide range of creative activities, both within the formal education system and in informal or community settings.
One of the initiatives which my department, through the Creative Ireland Programme, has supported is the expansion of access to the free creative writing workshops and initiatives provided by Fighting Words. Since its establishment in 2009, Fighting Words has provided a range of free creative writing tutoring, mentoring and publishing activities which have been shown to positively impact on personal, social and academic development.
The support provided by the Creative Ireland Programme has seen a doubling of the Fighting Words centres nationally, and enabled a more than twofold increase in the numbers of young people that have been able to engage in these creative writing activities. Chomh maith leis sin, chabhraigh mo Roinn Fighting Words Chonamara a bhunú in Ionad Cultúrtha an Phiarsaigh, Ros Muc.
The particular initiative which the Deputy refers to is titled Story Seeds, and was piloted by Fighting Words in January this year with DEIS schools in North Inner City Dublin. Story Seeds is designed to engage young people through creative writing, to help them articulate their own life stories so that they can better understand their own experiences and their place in the world. It aims to strengthen positivity in children, help them to reimagine the negatives in their lives and transform their sense of place and possibility.
In May this year, I announced funding to extend this project to schools, as well as voluntary and community groups, in other areas of Dublin City, Cork City, Limerick City, Bray, and Drogheda. This support from my department, and that of my colleague the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, will enable engagement with a total of 190 schools, all of which will either be DEIS or special schools. It should be noted that the funding being provided is not allocated to individual schools or organisations, but is enabling Fighting Words to deliver their services in each of the selected locations at no cost to the participants.
