Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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82. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she expects to be in a position to continue to utilise events of a cultural and heritage nature to promote the national image at home and abroad with particular reference to the need to generate increased interest in such matters among young persons; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39784/18]

Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The importance of Irish culture and heritage continues to play a central role in promoting Ireland’s image and reputation with people of all ages both in Ireland, and across the world.

My Department supports a broad range of programmes and initiatives across its remit to promote Ireland’s image, including, in particular, the Creative Ireland Programme and Culture Ireland.

Culture Ireland, a division of my Department, promotes and advances Irish arts worldwide thus strengthening Ireland’s cultural profile and global reputation. Strategic priorities of Culture Ireland include providing support for the international presentation of Irish artists and arts organisations, and the development of new and diverse international audiences and markets for Irish arts, by linking culture to the Government’s international promotion strategy in conjunction with other relevant Government Agencies.

GB18, for example, is a yearlong Culture Ireland programme of Irish arts in Great Britain that aims to showcase Irish artistic excellence. Working in partnership with significant UK institutions, venues and festivals the aim is to build on the unique cultural relationship between the two countries and expand the reach of Irish culture to new audiences.

As Great Britain is a key market for Ireland in terms of tourism, trade and investment the GB18 programme is an innovative method of articulating our values at a time of change in Ireland's wider relationship with Britain.

The Creative Ireland Programme is a culture-based programme led by my Department designed to promote individual, community and national wellbeing. Its core proposition is that participation in cultural activity drives personal and collective creativity, with significant implications for individual and societal wellbeing and achievement.

Both Pillar 1 - 'Enabling the Creative Potential of Children' and Pillar 2 - 'Enabling Creativity in Every Community' of the Programme are experiencing considerable investment and the Creative Ireland Programme continues to highlight numerous events and initiatives of a cultural and heritage nature across the country helping to create vibrant and sustainable communities.

A sum of €3m (€2m from my Department and €1m from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government) has been allocated to all 31 local authorities (€96,000 each approximately) to enable them support an extensive programme of activities, events and initiatives in each county. In addition, each local authorities have developed and published 5 year Culture and Creativity Strategies which were recently launched by myself, An Taoiseach and Minister Murphy. The Strategies aim to provide meaningful opportunities for citizens and local communities, together with our Local Authorities, to build and sustain our creative society. All of these strategies are available on the Creative Ireland website.

In addition Cruinniú na nÓg took place for the first time on June 23rd. Each local authority hosted a day of youthful creativity that was specifically targeted at children and young people. Over 500 free events took place for Cruinniú na nÓg nationwide to encourage children and young people to participate in creative activity which were very well received.

The Arts Council is the main Irish Government agency for developing the arts. Funded by my Department, the Council works in partnership with and provides funding for arts, artists, arts organisations, public policy makers and others to build a central place for the arts in Irish life.

We will continue to work across Government to further enhance Ireland's cultural and artistic reputation, particularly in the context of the recently launched ten-year plan "Investing in our Culture, Language and Heritage 2018-2027" which sets out the Government’s objectives for capital investment in Ireland’s culture, language and heritage.