Birr schools accepted to Creative Cluster Programme

A number of Birr schools have been accepted on to the Department of Education’s Creative Cluster Programme for the 2025 - 2027 cycle.

The participating schools are St Brendan’s Community School, St Brendan’s Primary School, Mercy Primary School, and Oxmantown National School.

The application was led by Home School Community Liaison Coordinators Ms Paula Carey and Ms Sabrina Carroll, who worked together to design a programme that is ambitious, innovative and achievable.

They collaborated with local artist and St Brendan’s Community School teacher Ms Jane McKenna to develop the cluster’s theme: "Elegance in Entryways"

Ms McKenna will deliver the programme to students across all four schools through the medium of clay. The project will focus on developing a two-dimensional relief tile inspired by the Georgian doorways in Birr.

The Department of Education commended the cluster for its outstanding application and praised the schools’ strong commitment to collaboration in addressing shared learning challenges.

From hundreds of applications submitted nationwide, only 42 school clusters were selected. Creative Clusters is part of the Creative Youth initiative, led by the Department of Education and supported by the local Education Centres. Participating schools will receive €6,000 in grant funding over the two-year period to support the implementation of the project. The cluster will also benefit from the support of a Creative Cluster Facilitator, coordinated through Laois Education Support Centre