Pillar 2 of the Creative Ireland Programme - Enabling Creativity in every Community is a key element of the Programme and the 31 Local Authorities are important partners.
Last year, a sum of €2m (€1m from my Department and €1m from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government) was allocated between all 31 Local Authorities to enable them to develop and implement their Culture and Creativity Action Plans for 2017 which included an associated programme of events and initiatives in each county. All local authorities produced a Culture and Creativity Plan in 2017 which are available online at https://creative.ireland.ie/en/local-plans.
The local authorities are currently preparing long-term Culture and Creativity Strategies which will aim to ensure that people and communities across Ireland will have the opportunity to fully realise their creative potential at local level. These Strategies will be accompanied by an Activity Programme for 2018 and for every subsequent year of the Strategy. It is expected that both the Strategies and Activity Plans will be published during the Spring of 2018.