Today (Wednesday, 30th May), Josepha Madigan T.D., Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht announced a full range of events and initiatives right across the country as part of Cruinniú na nÓg, a Creative Ireland Programme initiative.
A new national day of creativity for children and young people, Cruinniú na nÓgtakes place on 23 June 2018 in every county in Ireland. It aims to celebrate and encourage children and young people’s participation in culture and creativity in activities such as art, music, coding and theatre workshops, performances, exhibitions, readings, film screenings and much more.
Presented in partnership with the 31 local authorities and RTÉ, over 300 child-centered events will take place in local towns and neighborhoods across the country. All events are free and activity-based, with plenty of opportunities for young people to harness their imagination and unlock their creativity by ‘doing’, ‘making’ and trying something new! This initiative is being rolled out by the Culture Teams within each Local Authority across the country as part of the Creative Ireland Programme.
Minister Madigan was joined at the announcement today by students from St Enda’s Primary School, who have been working with artist Orla Kaminska on creating a new mural for their school wall as part of Dublin City Council’s Cruinniú na nÓg programme, which is focused on creative projects led by young people themselves in their own localities. Speaking today Minister Madigan said:
I am delighted today to present a full range of exciting and fun events and initiatives taking place across the country on 23rd June as part of our first Cruinniú na nÓg. It’s a big invitation to children and young people of all ages to get out there and try something new and creative in your own community. There will be something for everyone – dance workshops in Kerry , creative writing in Donegal, coding workshops in Offaly, music workshops in Cork City, battle of the bands, interactive art projects and musical picnics in Dublin City.
She continued:
I would like to thank the Local Authorities and the Creative Ireland Programme coordinators in particular for helping us to run this new programme of events – enabling the creative potential of all of our children and young people is a key priority for the Creative Ireland Programme and I am looking forward to attending events in my own community on 23rd June.
Cruinniú na nÓg is an initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme at the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and is presented in partnership with the Local Authorities and RTÉ.
Cruinniú na nÓg information and event details can be found at creative.ireland.ie/cruinniu #MyCruinniu
Note to Editors
The Creative Ireland Programme is an all of Government five-year initiative, from 2017 to 2022, which places creativity at the centre of public policy. It is built around five pillars: Enabling the Creative Potential of Every Child; Enabling Creativity in Every Community; Investing in our Creative and Cultural Infrastructure; Ireland as a Centre of Excellence in Media Production; Unifying our Global Reputation. Further information on Creative Ireland is available at creative.ireland.ie or on Facebook and Twitter @creativeirl
Building on the success of last year’s Cruinniú na Cásca events, and a key initiative of the Creative Youth Plan to enable the creativity of every child and young person, each of the country’s 31 Local Authorities has developed a programme of local events to showcase and share opportunities for children and young people. Children aged 0 to 18 will be able to experience a wealth of activities with the emphasis on participation in their home counties.
Underlying the Creative Youth Plan, of which Cruinniú na nÓg is one of 18 actions, is a firm conviction that participation in creative and cultural activities from dancing to singing to coding equips our young people to flourish in their personal lives and helps give them skills that will stand to them throughout their lives.
Dublin City Council’s programme for Cruinniú na nÓg is focused on activities in the city’s suburbs, neighbourhoods and villages, enabling young people to access creativity where they live, in their communities and with their friends and family. From specially curated cultural experiences for children with chronic illness in Dublin hospitals to scouts writing and performing sea songs on Dollymount Strand, from musical mash-ups in Ballyfermot to mosaic-making in the Liberties, projects initiated and developed by Dublin City Council’s creative and cultural teams will be showcased on in the city’s cultural venues, libraries and communities spaces on June 23. In addition, all 21 Dublin City Libraries will host a creative activity on the day, led by all manner of creative professionals from the worlds of theatre, dance, music, opera, film, circus, performance, fashion, photography, visual arts, digital arts, literature and more.