Ms Jane Cantwell:

Regarding providing access to the community, we find collaboration among ourselves is crucial. We have our Creative Ireland team, the arts offices and the libraries. We are all working towards the same aim, which is to provide access to people who may be a little isolated from the main towns and cities. We have different programmes in Waterford. The Waterford Healing Arts Trust and the arts office worked together to provide access for people. The project was called "Art at the Kitchen Table". It literally involves going into people's homes when they have illnesses or issues with accessibility.

There is also a great move now to give cultural opportunities to people from different backgrounds and nationalities. Much work is happening to provide artistic opportunities for the diverse communities. This is particularly the case in our library and arts service. A showcase event like the Waterford Global Women's Conference brought 300 women into the Theatre Royal for the various activities going on for that event. There are also opportunities like "The People We Grow Up to Be", which was a book exhibition and intergenerational project. A group of fifth- and sixth-class children from a rural school in Kilmacthomas engaged with members of our Bealtaine choir, which is a flagship choir composed of people aged over 60. There are about 60 or 70 people in that choir. They made up during Covid-19, first online and then in person, learned songs and told their stories together. Whole communities were involved in that in terms of the way parents, teachers and everybody else became involved in the undertaking. These are just two simple examples.