Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On 1 December last, I approved the allocation of the remaining €1 million from my Department's commitment to the Galway European Capital of Culture programme to support delivery of the programme under the proposed legacy framework.

It is expected that the legacy framework will be published on the website of Galway Culture Company, the successor trading entity to the Galway 2020 company, in the coming weeks. The website of Galway Culture Company, which is fully bilingual, has been live since last Monday and sets out the key high-level programme aims and actions under the legacy framework. The €1 million funding from my Department will be broken down to support the delivery of these programme aims as follows: €300,000 to facilitate EU and international relationships and funding, €500,000 to develop and support place-based cultural programming and €200,000 to provide supports to the cultural and creative sector.

Galway Culture Company, operating within Galway City Council and led by a board comprising local and regional leaders of organisations with a role and remit in the support of culture and creative industries in Galway, has already commenced work on facilitating EU and international relationships and funding. For example, it has established an ecosystem of EU supports comprising the key agencies on the board of the company. This inter-agency ecosystem is working to share knowledge and co-operate on EU funding applications. It has already been successful in the award of funding for the stimulating performance of ecosystems in creative territories and regional actors, SPECTRA, project under the Horizon Europe programme. This project is being led by the Western Development Commission in partnership with CREW, Atlantic Technological University and Galway Culture Company as well as a number of partners from other EU countries, including Germany, Bulgaria and Denmark.

Galway Culture Company is working to develop the legacy framework of Galway's designation as European Capital of Culture and to build on the learnings and outcomes of Galway's many European and global designations, including European Capital of Culture, UNESCO city of film, European Green Leaf city and European region of gastronomy.

Over the coming months, open calls will commence for projects under place-based cultural programming as well as the development of actions to support and enhance the capacity of the Galway region's cultural and creative sector. Regular updates on all actions and initiatives, as well as relevant EU and international funding opportunities, will be provided on the website of Galway Culture Company.

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