This article is from page 8 of the 2011-10-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
A CAMPAIGN to secure a potential € 1.2 milion three-year funding boost for music teaching in Clare got underway in Ennis yesterday.
Music teachers and musicians met with members of the Clare Music Partnership in the Old Ground Hotel to offer their input into Clare’s bid for the latest round of funding from the Music Generation Initiative.
Despite making an initial 23 county shortlist, Clare missed out on round one funding from the initiative, which has been made possible through the support of U2 and the Ireland Fund.
Clare VEC is co-ordinating the Clare bid, which is aiming to secure grants of € 200,000 per annum over a three-year period. County Arts Officer Siobhan Mulcahy explained that the Clare Music Partnership would be expected to supply matching funding over the period of the programme. She said that this could lead to € 400,000 being invested in music teaching in the county each year over the next three years.
Ms Mulcahy said the funding would be used to augment and compliment music teaching in Clare. Dr Helen Phelan of the University of Limerick told the meeting that the € 7m commitment from the initiative represented “one of the largest trenches of money to be ever invested in music education in Ireland”.
Dr Phelan said music teachers and providers would be asked to identify gaps and barriers in the area of music education. She explained that the programme is aimed at enhancing the existing network of music provision in Clare. She said that funding would be handed out over the course of four rounds. “We need to be in this for the long term so we need to be strategic about how we develop it,” she added. Guitar teacher Paul O’Donoghue said that there is no direct link from primary school through secondary school to third level education for children studying music. He said that music teaching in schools shouldn’t “zone in” on just traditional music. Concern was expressed over the availability of matching funding.
Dr Sean Conlan, Clare VEC Education Officer, said local authorities in Clare and groups such as RAPID and LEADER had previously committed to providing funds. He said the programme had received “fairly serious promises from senior people” that the Department of Education would continue to fund the project when U2’s commitment comes to an end.