Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 November 2021
303. Deputy Cormac Devlin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the various elements of the creative youth programme; the way it has been rolled out in the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [54138/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Creative Youth Plan was published by the Government in December 2017 as one of the five pillars of the Creative Ireland Programme, with the aim of enabling the creative potential of every young person. Creative Youth proposes a long-term objective to help promote a society in which knowledge and creativity are equal partners in the formation of our young people and where schools can support creativity and innovation in teaching and learning in an integrated way.
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. These include:
- Enhancing arts and creativity initiatives in schools through the introduction of the Creative Schools programme, which is managed by the Arts Council, and Creative Clusters, a Schools Excellence Fund initiative of the Department of Education;
- Increasing and enhancing teacher continuing professional development opportunities across primary, post-primary and early years settings;
- Establishing pilot Local Creative Youth Partnerships with six Education and Training Boards;
- The development and roll-out of Cruinniú na nÓg, the national day of free creative activities for children and young people, in partnership with every local authority; and
- Enabling provision of greater out-of-school opportunities to engage in creative activities with partners across the youth and cultural sectors – such as spreading the nationwide reach of Music Generation; providing more creative writing opportunities with Fighting Words; enhanced access to youth drama with Youth Theatre Ireland; and more recently providing better opportunities for youth groups to experience creative technologies.
With specific regard to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, since 2018 my Department has provided funding of €229,795 to the local authority to support its annual programmes for Cruinniú na nÓg. This has enabled Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to host 92 Cruinniú events and projects, providing even more opportunities for children and young people in the area to experience new creative activities.
Additionally, through the Creative Communities pillar of the Creative Ireland Programme, and in partnership with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, my Department has supported each local authority to develop (through local public consultation) and implement an individual Culture and Creativity Strategy (2018-2022). These strategies are designed to engage local communities with creativity to support individual and community wellbeing, social cohesion, and economic development.
For the period 2018-2020, the Creative Communities initiative in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown has received €519,276 and another €163,323 has been allocated to date in 2021. Many local authority strategies include specific priorities around programming for children and young people. In Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Creative Communities has supported the delivery of 95 creative projects and initiatives to date, of which 26 have had a particular focus on children, young people and families in that area.
