Humphreys insists Creative Ireland targets achievable

Nurturing artistic expression amongst our youth and providing spaces where artists can work and congregate were identified as key goals to drive the Creative Ireland Programme beyond the aspirational.

Those recommendations were frequently suggested by the Cavan arts community at a public consultation held in the Hotel Kilmore to feed into the local plans for the ambitious nationwide Creative Ireland project.
Creative Ireland director, John Concannon, joined with Arts Minister Heather Humphreys to outline the vision and ambition of the project. The stated aims of Creative Ireland is to nurture a love of, and talent for, the arts in young people as part of delivering a Culture and Creativity plan in every county.
Over 130 people from the Cavan arts community representing visual artists, musicians and the dramatic arts attended the event to voice their opinions on the structures necessary for arts to thrive in the county.
Minister Humphreys explained that the impetus for the Culture Ireland Programme came from the centenary celebrations: “It is ambitious and it should be ambitious. We can achieve it in a collaborative way by working together across government departments and local authorities. There is a huge interest in our culture and our heritage, and we are able to express ourselves through the arts and that creativity. The 2016 commemoration gave us some wonderful ideas. It gave us a sense of nationhood and allowed us to express ourselves culturally... What we want to do is put culture and creativity at the centre of Irish life.”

Creative potential

The primary pillar of Creative Ireland is to “Enable the Creative Potential of Every Child”. The minister insists providing access to tuition in music, drama, art and coding to every child in the country is more than just aspirational, it's a deliverable goal: “It can be provided through the curriculum, through the education system, that children from an early age children can have access to tuition in what ever arts form they wish. There has been a huge investment in schools in the county and across the country. I want to invest in better services and make sure that culture gets a fair share of the investments.”
John Concannon said that it will not be an easy path: “The minister said that we need to build a legacy programme, but only if it stands up. It is all built up from feedback. It is very ambitious but we can do it within this county within the year. It is going to be challenging. This programme is an enabling programme. The minister secured €20M extra for the sector in the context of delivering this.”

Can-do

In Cavan the county librarian Tom Sullivan has been appointed the coordinator of the local culture team, while director of service Eoin Doyle is overseeing the project locally. The minister said that the Hotel Kilmore workshop was an important stepping stone in the process: “There is a wonderful community spirit in rural Ireland; a can-do attitude. I want to tap into that to make the Culture Ireland Programme happen. This is a chance for people to tell us their ideas and we want to put this together as part of the Culture Ireland plan.”
All of the suggestions gathered in the workshop, which included school programmes, an artists' database and initiatives to bring artists together, will be collated into a report.
Minister Humphreys said that the legacy aspect of the Creative Ireland programme is crucial: “This is very important, but the best is yet to come. Culture is the glue that can bind a whole society together.”