Ms Dulcie Corbett:

I will be talking about the use of art in public spaces and the general feel and visual appearance of the town.

In our trips around Carlow, we noticed that, in lots of places, our town does not feel nice to be in. They feel rundown and uncared for. People of all ages enjoy spending time in nice, bright, safe places and there are very few public spaces in the town centre where people our age can hang out with their friends.

When we walk down Dublin Street, an historic street in Carlow town centre, there are 14 empty or derelict buildings. There are two whole blocks on Tullow Street that are also empty or worse for wear. The space over many of the shops also seem to be unused. In a lot of towns people can live over shops, which brings life into the town centre, but that is not the case in our town yet.

In an image in the presentation we see large empty buildings on one of our main streets. When our class did some work on the historical census, we saw that in the past lots of families used to live in many of these buildings and over the shops. When there are so many families countrywide in need of accommodation, it seems wasteful to have these buildings lying dormant.

Another image in the presentation provides another example of a full row of empty buildings. This is wrong on many levels. Apart from the bigger issue of having empty buildings in a housing crisis, it does not make the town a nice place to spend time in.

As we walked around Carlow, apart from the derelict buildings, a lot of the shopfronts seem to be poorly maintained or to use plastic signage. Putting more effort into the front of the shops can really change the feel of the town. I understand businesses might have to spend more money upgrading their premises and shopfronts, but in the long run it might really encourage business. The following image is a good example of a new business taking pride in its shopfront. It has a nice old-fashioned canopy with seating outside on the weekends.

Something else I would also like to speak about is street art in Carlow. Street art can make public spaces and walls feel much more lively and colourful. Having street art can get local artists employment and there are studies showing that street art can even help local businesses as it encourages foot traffic, tourism and appreciation for the arts, and it creates a unique experience since no art will ever be the same.

Waterford has done some incredible work over the past couple of years by doing the walls of Waterford. The once drab and boring walls have been made so much more visually appealing just from the artists' paintings. Having local artists spruce up the bad paint jobs and murals could make the town have an extra popular colour and just feel more welcoming than old dirty paint jobs, which might not look as pretty. The example in the presentation is from Cork. The presentation shows art on the buildings of Waterford city centre. Public art brings great life into these areas.

Cork and Dublin also have lots of good street art but they also have ESB boxes that are painted by local artists and paid for by the local authorities. They celebrate local culture, welcoming tourists to the city and using many languages. This is something we could do in Carlow and other small towns.

Interactive pieces of art like the one in the presentation could be dotted around the town. They would brighten up certain areas and all ages would enjoy interacting with them. It can make people feel more welcome and comfortable in these spaces.

The image on the right-hand side in the presentation shows interactive sculpture, as it also might be used in seats in unique ways which might appeal to younger children and to older people and adults. They give our shared public spaces a more individual identity. The first image is from Carlow Shopping Centre. It is really effective and quite local.

Having seating areas in Carlow would be a nice and beneficial way to improve empty areas. When I go into town with my friends, having places to sit, eat and talk would be very important. Most of the time we have to eat by the fountain, which in my opinion is not the most attractive place, and having different types of seating areas that feel nice and are comfortable to be at would be a huge win. Also, it should not just be regular park benches but different types. As can be seen here from the presentation, it provides a much nicer and more enjoyable experience.

We found lots of good examples online of different types of seating. There is a great website, called Make Space For Girls, which has really good ideas, like the image in the presentation. Also, research has shown that in their teenage years boys can dominate shared outdoor spaces, and girls have the right to enjoy things and be included as well.

Thank you for listening to our research today. I hope the committee can take our recommendations and give us a version of feedback on what it can do with our ideas.

I will hand on to Grace now to talk about prioritising people.