On this page

1. Existence of a national strategy

2. Scope and contents

3. Responsible authority for the implementation of the strategy

4. Revisions/updates

Existence of a national strategy 

Creative Ireland is a five-year, cross-governmental Programme, from 2017-2022.

Culture 2025 A National Cultural Policy Framework to 2025 was published in 2020 by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Project Ireland 2040: Investing in our Culture, Language & Heritage 2018-2027 was published in 2018.

Scope and contents

Creative Ireland and the Creative Youth Plan

Creative Ireland connects people, creativity, and wellbeing. It is a major cross-governmental culture and wellbeing initiative. It is also a legacy project of Ireland 2016 Centenary Programme (discussed in Chapter 8.4 Promoting Culture and Participation). Creative Ireland’s vision is that every person in Ireland should have the opportunity to realise their full creative potential. The Programme is built around the key themes: Creative Youth; Creative Communities; Creative Places; and Creative Nation.

Creative Youth - A Plan to Enable the Creative Potential of Every Child and Young Person sets out how Creative Ireland will meet the overall Programme objectives for children and young people. It aims to give every child practical access to tuition, experience and participation in art, music, drama, and coding by 2022. The Creative Youth Plan aims to increase opportunities for activity and participation, and to influence public policy around creativity in both formal education and out-of-school settings. Creative Youth’s four long-term strategic objectives are:

• Supporting collaboration between formal and non-formal approaches to creativity in education
• Extending the range of creative activities for our young people
• Embedding the creative process by developing programmes that will enable teachers to help young people learn and apply creative skills and capacities
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers working in Early Years, Primary and Post Primary Schools.

While the plan is aimed at all youths, Objective 13 ‘Creativity programmes for young people in disadvantaged communities will be developed’ targets ‘young people in disadvantaged communities’ (Pg. 50).

Culture 2025

Publication of Culture 2025 was identified as a priority in A Programme for a Partnership Government. Culture 2025 is a policy framework that defines the scope and sets the direction of Government policy for the whole cultural sector. Culture 2025 is Ireland’s first Framework Policy to embrace the whole cultural sector. It is a living document, subject to on-going review and additional public consultation where appropriate. It will evolve in line with new developments in the cultural sector. While Culture 2025 is aimed at the general population of Ireland, one section specifically targets children and young people.

The framework sets out the current state of affairs in a broad range of categories across the sector, the Government’s aspirations has for those categories, and the Government’s commitments to achieve those aspirations. Many of the aims of Culture 2025 will be achieved through more detailed policies and implementation plans in specific areas. The fundamental purpose of Culture 2025 is to ensure a unified and coherent approach to cultural policy across government and to planning and provision across the cultural sector. Through this Framework Policy, the Government seeks to nurture creativity, boost citizen participation, help more people to follow a sustainable career in the cultural sector, promote Ireland’s cultural wealth and ensure a cultural contribution to wider social and economic goals.

Project Ireland 2040: Investing in our Culture, Language & Heritage 2018-2027

Project Ireland 2040: Investing in our Culture, Language and Heritage 2018-2027 is a ten-year plan setting out the Government’s objectives for capital investment in Ireland’s culture, language and heritage. In line with the Creative Ireland Programme (Pillar 3), the plan recognises that high quality infrastructure is critical for a vibrant arts, heritage and culture sector and that investment in our cultural heritage underpins social cohesion and supports strong, sustainable economic growth. It aims “to provide much better social, economic and cultural infrastructure so that every individual and every part of the country can reach its potential”. Its target groups including children and families. The plan’s objectives include influencing the delivery of an enhanced education for children and young people.

Responsible authority for the implementation of the strategy

Creative Ireland and the Creative Youth Plan

The Creative Youth Plan’s implementation is led by a Working Group including the Creative Ireland Programme office in the Department of Tourism. Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the Arts Council. An increased combined investment of €6m was secured, to support its implementation. A Creative Youth Expert Advisory Group assists and advises the Programme and working group.

The Creative Youth Plan states that a research project would be resourced and initiated in 2018. Its first task will be to establish a robust baseline of qualitative and quantitative information, on arts education, arts-in-education and the broader issues of creative engagement in the lives of young people. The research project would assess the impact of the measures introduced under the plan.

Several assessment reports have been published about, or including a section on, Creative Youth Plan:

• Creative Ireland End of Year Report 2017 (Working Group for the Creative Youth Plan, 2017)
• Creative Ireland End of Year Report 2018 (Working Group for the Creative Youth Plan, 2018)
• 2018 Progress Report and Renewed Commitments 2019 (Working Group for the Creative Youth Plan, 2019)
• Creative Ireland Progress Report 2021

The Creative Youth Conference 2021- ‘Creativity: the connection to our future, now’ took place on the 13^th of May 2021. This conference was hosted online and discussed questions surrounding the provision of opportunities for creative engagement by young people within the school and their community. This Conference was an opportunity for stakeholders to reflect on progress to date and input their views concerning the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

This event, was opened by the Taoiseach, and included contributions from the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, the Minister for Education, Norma Foley and the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’ Gorman.

Culture 2025

Culture 2025 states the Government’s commitment to working collaboratively to implement the aims and objectives of the Creative Youth Plan to enable the creative potential of every child and young person.

Achievement of the aims of Culture 2025, as well as the Creative Ireland Programme, is overseen by a broad-based Expert Advisory Group, comprising representatives from key public agencies as well as representatives from the broader creative and cultural sector.

Project Ireland 2040: Investing in our Culture, Language & Heritage 2018-2027

Project Ireland 2040: Investing in our Culture, Language & Heritage 2018-2027 is implemented by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. The plan also sets out two implementation bodies for North-South Co-Operation: Waterways Ireland; and the Language Body (An Foras Teanga), which is comprised of the Irish Institute (Foras na Gaeilge) and the Ulster-Scots Agency.

Revisions/updates

Creative Ireland and the Creative Youth Plan

The Creative Youth Plan was published in 2017 and updated in March 2018. In 2019, Creative Youth Plan’s Working Group refined the Plan’s actions. A total of €1.86 million of the Exchequer was allocated to the implementation of the Creative Youth Plan in 2019.

Culture 2025

Culture 2025/Creative Ireland (Éire Ildánach) A Framework Policy to 2025 was a draft policy published in 2016. This underwent a round of consultations, with submissions received from Government Departments, local authorities, and cultural bodies and stakeholders in the cultural sector. The draft framework policy was submitted to the Joint Parliament (Oireachtas) Committee on Arts, Heritage, Regional Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in July 2016, who published its Report on Culture 2025 – Éire Ildánach, Framework Policy to 2025 in July 2017. Culture 2025 A National Cultural Policy Framework to 2025 was published in 2020 by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.