The Creative Ireland Programme, a national five-year culture based initiative places creativity at the centre of public policy. It is built around the themes of identity, culture and citizenship and is designed to promote individual, community and national wellbeing.
The five pillars of Creative Ireland:
1. Enabling the creative potential of every child
2. Enabling creativity in every community
3. Investing in our creative and cultural infrastructure
4. Ireland as a centre of excellence in media production
5. Unifying our global reputation
Kilkenny County Council, in partnership with Creative Ireland and the community, has developed a 5 year strategy, Creative Ireland Kilkenny Culture & Creativity Strategy 2018-2022 which was launched by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister Madigan on 12th September in Dublin.
This strategy was prepared by the Kilkenny County Council Cultural Services Team. They held an open meeting in April 2017 in Kilkenny; feedback from this meeting informed the strategy.
The strategic priorities in the Kilkenny Culture and Creativity Strategy 2018-2022 are:
1. Enable best practice delivery of culture
2. Increase and diversify participation
3. Support culture in rural and urban areas
4. Engage children and young people in culture
5. Communicate the value of culture
Creative Ireland Programme 2018
Twenty cultural initiatives received funding from Kilkenny County Council under the Creative Ireland Programme in 2018. To find out more click here
Culture & Creativity Plan 2017
2017 was the first year of the Creative Ireland programme and along with all Local Authorities, Kilkenny County Council produced a programme of events prioritising culture and creativity in the county. To find out more click here
The Creative Team in Co. Kilkenny
Dearbhala Ledwidge, Creative Ireland Co-ordinator
Mary Mulholland, Director of Services
Mary Butler, Arts Officer
Josephine Coyne, Acting County Librarian
Francis Coady, Architectural Conservation Officer
Evelyn Graham, Project Liaison Architect
For more information contact Dearbhala Ledwidge, Heritage Officer and Creative Ireland Kilkenny coordinator. dearbhala.ledwidge@kilkennycoco.ie
Further information from creative.ireland.ie and Ireland.ie