Written answers
Wednesday, 26 July 2017
Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Creative Ireland Programme
Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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611. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the festivals and arts organisations that Creative Ireland is funding directly, by county, in tabular form; the basis on which it is funding these arts organisations and festivals; the application process for these groups; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35824/17]
Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Creative Ireland Programme is a cross-Government initiative to mainstream culture and creativity in the life of the nation with significant benefits for individual and societal well-being and achievement. The programme is based on five pillars:
- Enabling the creative potential of every child
- Enabling creativity in every community
- Investing in our creative and cultural infrastructure
- Establishing Ireland as a centre of excellence in media production
- Unifying our Global Reputation
The Programme includes an ambitious plan to deliver ten major initiatives by the end of 2017 – see https://creative.ireland.ie for further information.
The Creative Ireland Programme is not a funding body and as such does not administer any grant or funding schemes. However, my Department, through the Creative Ireland Programme is taking the opportunity in this, its initial year, to engage and collaborate with several key cultural partners at various important national events and festivals in order to promote the objectives and underlying values of this major new Programme, and encourage deeper understanding and appreciation of the role of the creative arts. These events and festivals are as follows:
| Event/Festival | Location | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Dalkey Book Festival, (Talks Series) | Dalkey, Co. Dublin | €20,000 |
| Galway Arts Festival, (First Thought Talk Series) | Galway City | €15,000 |
| Kilkenny Arts Festival, (Ireland & Europe: Creative Visions Talk Series) | Kilkenny City, Co. Kilkenny | €15,000 |
| Mindfield at Electric Picnic, (Illuminate Talk Series) | Stradbally, Co. Laois | €25,000 |
| Sounds from a Safe Harbour, (Talk Series) | Cork City | €10,000 |
| Dublin Theatre Festival, (expanded 60th anniversary festival programme) | Dublin City | €40,000 |
| Baboró International Arts Festival for Children, (extensive programme for children) | Co. Galway | €10,000 |
| Oireachtas na Samhna, (all-Irish cultural event) | Killarney, Co. Kerry | €10,000 |
| Total | €145,000 |
The various elements of each festival being supported under the Creative Ireland Programme - particularly the Talk Series – will help provoke discussion and knowledge sharing about the importance of art, culture and creativity and examine questions such as the importance of national identity, cultural expression and creative new approaches to shared Irish and European challenges. The target partners have the capacity and a proven track record of reaching a wide and diverse national audience through bespoke audience engagement campaigns and marketing strategies as well as being flagship opportunities to promote the best of Irish culture and creativity.
In addition to these projects, my Department provided funding to each Local Authority in 2017, to develop Creative Ireland county plans, and to curate events for Cruinniú na Cásca. It was a matter for each Local Authority to draw up its own programme of events and activities, and these are available on the Creative Ireland website.
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