Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Pillar 2 of the Creative Ireland programme has been and continues to be a real driver of creativity at local level. The programme is led by local authorities, each of which has established a cross-sectoral culture team led by a Creative Ireland co-ordinator. In that regard, this year my Department allocated €2 million, while the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government allocated €1 million to the 31 local authorities. That has allowed us to allocate approximately €96,000 to each local authority which has enabled them to support an extensive programme of activities, initiatives and events in each county.

So far in 2018, over 400 initiatives around Ireland have been funded under pillar 2 of the programme, a significant increase on the figure for 2017. The initiatives include a range of multi-disciplinary projects, grant schemes, concerts, conferences, exhibitions, festivals, outreach projects, publications, research programmes, workshops and other activities. They cover a wide range of topics such as archaeology, architecture, biodiversity, crafts, heritage, dance, film, history, literature, music, photography, poetry, storytelling, theatre and the visual arts. In Deputy Niamh Smyth's area, very exciting and innovative projects are being pursued such as song writing workshops in Breifne College in Cavan town and innovative theatre projects which bring work onto the streets of Cavan to get as many people involved in culture and creativity as possible. County Monaghan also has an exciting programme of events, with some great initiatives for children and young people such as the Creative Enterprise showcase for primary schools. Such activities form part of each local authority's five-year culture and creative strategies which were launched by me, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, on 12 September. The strategies highlight the critical role local authorities play as providers and enablers of cultural and creative experiences in communities across Ireland, with all of the vitally important social and economic consequences that follow.

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With collaboration and shared purpose at the heart of the Creative Ireland programme, each strategy provides meaningful opportunities for people and their communities, together with the local authority, to build and nurture a creative society. The strategies are available online and my colleague the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government and I look forward to supporting their continued implementation.

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