Major €500k funding boost for Edenderry cultural project

Edenderry is set to benefit from a €500,000 cultural project, thanks to Arts Council funding.

Creative Lives, a charity which supports and encourages people to be creative in their everyday lives, will be working in partnership with Offaly County Council on the ambitious three-year project which aims to galvanise the creative and cultural scene in Edenderry.

The project received a Creative Places funding award from The Arts Council which was announced today (Monday).

Edenderry, Offaly's second largest town, has seen its population double between 1996 and 2016. Its residents are younger than the national average and significantly more diverse, with many normally commuting to Dublin area for work.

This Creative Place project will aim to build a greater sense of community and belonging, enabling social inclusion and cohesion through shared cultural activities.

In addition to Creative Lives and Offaly County Council Arts Office, the project steering group brings together Edenderry Municipal District, Creative Edenderry, North Offaly Community Development Network, Edenderry Community Cabin and Offaly County Library Service.

The goal is to facilitate the emergence of a strong cultural identity for the area and support sustainable networks and opportunities for cultural engagement and participation.

This work builds on recent initiatives delivered in partnership by Creative Lives and Offaly County Council Arts Office, such as the creation of the Creative Edenderry community group and the ‘Shoes of Edenderry’ project this past year.

The Creative Places project "will have a huge impact for the people of Edenderry over a number of years, and will enable community cohesion, social identity and pride for the people and place of Edenderry," said Anna-Marie Delaney, the Chief Executive of Offaly County Council.

Veronica Nicholson, Chair of the Creative Edenderry community group, said the Creative Places award could be "transformational" for the local community.

"We have seen through the conversations that led to the formation of the Creative Edenderry community group that there is great enthusiasm, talent and passion among our local people and this project will help to bring that to greater recognition.

"We are hugely excited to build on the success of our recent 'Shoes of Edenderry' project and publication with new opportunities for artists and local people," she said.