Creative Ireland coordinator for Offaly, Amanda Pedlow, is pictured in Dublin Castle with former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and Arts Minister, Heather Humphreys at the launch of the Creative Culture Plan for the county.

Further development planned for Lough Boora

Further development of Lough Boora Discovery Park and participation in the All-Ireland Pollinator Programme are just two of the projects highlighted in the Offaly Culture and Creativity Plan, which was launched at a recent event in Dublin Castle by An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, and Arts Minister, Heather Humphreys.

The event, which was attended by members of Offaly County Council’s Culture Team, including Creative Ireland coordinator for Offaly, Amanda Pedlow, heard that the development of Culture Plans for every county is a cornerstone of the Creative Ireland Programme.

Since the launch of Creative Ireland, each Local Authority has established a Culture Team which includes Arts and Heritage officers; librarians and museum and gallery curators, all of which are lead by a local Creative Ireland coordinator.

For the last number of months the Culture Team in Offaly have been putting together a plan for the county to encourage communities and citizens to engage, participate and enable their creative potential.

Highlights from the Offaly Culture Plan include:
Further development of the Lough Boora Discovery Park
Participation in the All-Ireland Pollinator Programme 2015-20, based on the success of the Secrets in Offaly project
Mini Movies, a filmmaker-facilitated project for national and post-primary schools
Publication of Flights of Fancy, by architect Rachel McKenna, a full-colour, hardback book exploring demesnes in Offaly that feature follies
Local and national events such as Heritage Week, Culture Night, Positive Ageing Week, Science Week and Engineers Week

Ongoing support and maintenance for over 1,420 protected heritage structures
Speaking at the launch, Arts Minister, Heather Humphreys expressed her thanks to all the Culture Teams in Offaly for their hard work in recent months “to help us realise some of the key ambitions in the Creative Ireland programme.

Offaly already has a vibrant cultural scene and through Creative Ireland we want to see more people in Offaly participating in the arts locally.”