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.
This year a sum of €3m (€2m from my Department and €1m from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government) has been allocated to all 31 local authorities (€96,000 each approximately). This will enable them implement the objectives contained within their five-year Culture and Creativity Strategies and support an accompanying programme of activities, events and initiatives in each county. In addition, separate provision will be provided to local authorities for Cruinniú events as part of their Culture and Creativity Strategies. Details regarding the roll-out of Cruinniú will be made available shortly.
Both the Strategies and Activity Programmes will be launched in the coming weeks.