Two schools in Offaly join Arts Council initiative

The Arts Council announced this week that two new schools in Offaly will join its Creative Schools programme.

The local schools selected for participation in the initiative are Crinkill National School and Scoil Mhuire agus Chormaic, Kilcormac.

They will be among 184 new schools and Youthreach centres across Ireland taking part in the two-year programme.

Each school will receive a €4,000 grant. They will also work with a professional creative associate for two years, who will support them to develop and implement their own bespoke creative school plan.

Creative Schools is a flagship initiative of the Government’s Creative Ireland Programme, putting the arts and creativity at the heart of children and young people’s lives. The initiative is led by the Arts Council in partnership with the Department of Education and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Creative Schools receive applications from counties across the country. They are assessed on how the initiative would benefit learning and development in the school and how children and young people would play a central role in leading the process.

The programme helps to fulfil the Arts Council’s aim for all children to have the opportunity to participate fully in a range of art forms within the education system.

A total of 1,100 Irish schools, one in four, have now participated in Creative Schools programme since it began in 2018.

There were 300 applications to the programmme this year, a significant increase on 2023 numbers.

Following the announcement, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin TD said: "This new cohort of schools and school communities have the opportunity to embark on a unique two-year journey of creativity and discovery."