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Creative Ireland Programme

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 June 2018

Thursday, 21 June 2018

Ceisteanna (285)

Bernard Durkan

Ceist:

285. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the degree to which she continues to liaise with local voluntary groups throughout County Kildare and countrywide in respect of various grant aid available for local productions involved in the promotion of the arts through community effort; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27359/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Enabling creativity in every community is a key strand of the Creative Ireland Programme.  To facilitate community engagement with creative activities, each of the 31 local authorities has established a Culture Team and has a designated Creative Ireland co-ordinator. 

In 2017, each local authority published and implemented local Culture and Creativity Plans which were supported by an allocation of €2m (€1m from my Department and €1m from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government). In total, these plans listed over 750 local cultural projects, events and initiatives taking place nationwide last year which gave us a snapshot of the rich cultural activity taking place in each country.  The 2017 plan for Kildare can be accessed through this link: https://creative.ireland.ie/en/library/kildare. The Department does not manage the application processes for these funding applications and is not prescriptive as to which creative activity should be prioritised.

Each local authority is now in the process of drawing up more detailed five-year Strategic Creativity Plans which will be published later this year. These strategies will be accompanied by an Activity Plan outlining initiatives being supported by the local authorities in their respective areas. The implementation of these Activity plans will be supported by a sum of €3m (€2m from my own Department and €1m from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government). Each local authority including Kildare County Council will therefore receive approximately €96,000 this year under the Creative Ireland Programme.  

In addition, each local authority has been allocated additional funding to host Cruinniú na nÓg, a day of youthful creativity that will be held this weekend coming (23 June 2018) and which is specifically targeted at children and young people. Over 500 free events are happening for Cruinniú na nÓg nationwide. Further details including those events happening in Kildare can be found at  https://creative.ireland.ie/cruinniu/ 

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