€250k for Cavan project welcomed

Local Fianna Fáil TD Brendan Smith, has welcomed €250,000 in funding for 'Dance Connects' under the Creative Communities on a Shared Island funding scheme as part of the Shared Island dimension to the Creative Ireland Programme 2023-2027.

The funding has been allocated via Cavan County Council to support the new cross-border creative project to inspire connections between people, communities and places.

Welcoming today's funding Deputy Brendan Smith said, "Dance Connects is a 24-month creative collaboration between dance practitioners in Cavan, Monaghan and Fermanagh-Omagh, local authorities, and Queen’s University Belfast and UCD. This wide-ranging project will engage with participants from every dance genre from Sean-Nós to jive, from line-dancing to ballet, from hip-hop to Scottish Country, from contemporary to Flamenco and everything in between.

"The aim will be to build networks, share skills, develop a database and website, alongside a comprehensive public engagement programme. Nurturing our heritage and culture is an important part of the promotion of our island as an attractive tourism destination.

Deputy Brendan Smith concluded by saying that such projects showcase and connect creative impulses across the island of Ireland and provide opportunities, facilitated by Local Authorities, for new community interactions which help to create a shared island.