Arts project aims to unite Larne’s next generation

Larne’s Factory Community Forum has big ideas for the development of a neutral space to promote the importance of education in enhancing life chances for young people.

Working with pupils from three local schools, the plan is to draw inspiration from William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’ in the development of an arts project that has been made possible thanks to a grant windfall from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.

Factory Community Forum is one of seven groups across Northern Ireland and the southern border areas to be awarded initial grants totalling over £45,500 from the Building Peace through the Arts – Re-Imaging Communities programme which is funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the European Union’s Programme for Peace and Reconciliation (PEACE III) managed by the Special EU Programmes Body and the International Fund for Ireland.

The £3.125m Building Peace through the Arts – Re-Imaging Communities programme offers funding of up to £50,000 per project to community groups and local authorities that want to want to tackle sectarianism and racism in their communities.

The programme supports peace-building and improved community relations by enabling artists to work with local groups and to create vibrant and attractive public artworks.

Factory Community Forum has been awarded an initial £4,150 to facilitate their art project that will address the problems associated with on-going graffiti of a sectarian and threatening nature on a local wall which sits between three local schools.

Gareth McConnell, the Forum’s youth co-ordinator said: “We are delighted to have received this funding and plan to use it to facilitate engagement with three local schools in the development of a shared space. We want to create an area for the entire community to enjoy while recognising the vital role played by education in creating new and exciting opportunities for our young people in Larne. We want them to be inspired!

“It is an exciting time for us and we look forward to working together to develop an art project of which our young people can be rightfully proud.”

Roisin McDonough, chief executive of the Arts Council, added: “On behalf of the Arts Council and our funding partners in this programme, we are delighted to be able to announce the first round of funding for this important programme which provides an invaluable opportunity for communities to promote tolerance and understanding while using the arts to find positive new ways to express identity and tradition.

“The arts introduce a new dimension to the process of building reconciliation within and between communities and I’m delighted that these seven projects are now in a position to place creative regeneration at the very heart of their local community neighbourhoods.”

and, in doing so, take the first steps in creating a better future for everyone.”

To find out more about the programme, please contact the Arts Council’s Re-Imaging Communities team on +44 (0) 28 9038 5228, visit: www.artscouncil-ni.org or email: [email protected]

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Claire Hutchinson, Media & Communications Officer, T: (028) 90385246 / 07833 668759 or email: [email protected]

NOTES TO EDITORS

The Building Peace through the Arts – Re-Imaging Communities Programme fund is £3.1275 million spread over two years (2013-2015). The aim is to address sectarianism and racism within NI and the border areas through creatively engaging communities in the development of public art that promotes the ethos of a shared future.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is contributing £701,978 and the International Fund for Ireland is matching this with a contribution of £701,978. The remainder of the Programme’s costs, £1,723,552, is being met from PEACE III under Measure 1.1 – “Building Positive Relations at the Local Level” for which OFMDFM is the accountable Department but which also includes the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in Dáil Éireann.

The aim of the Building Peace through the Arts - Re-Imaging Communities Programme is to deliver community-based projects over a two-year period across Northern Ireland the border region. It will target groups affected by conflict, community polarization and / or sectarian or racial tensions.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the lead development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland. It is the main support for artists and arts organisations throughout the region, offering a broad range of funding opportunities through its Treasury and National Lottery funds.

The Special EU Programme Body PEACE III Programme is a distinctive programme part-funded by the European Union (€225 million from the EU with further national contributions of €108 million) through its Structural Funds programme. The full title of the PEACE III Programme is the EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland and the Border Region of Ireland. The programme covers the period 2007-2013. The main aims of the PEACE III Programme are to reinforce progress towards a peaceful and stable society and to promote reconciliation by assisting operations and projects which help to reconcile communities and contribute towards a shared society for everyone. PEACE III follows on from the PEACE I and PEACE II Programmes and will carry forward some of the key aspects of the previous programmes. PEACE III has a renewed emphasis on reconciliation. Like the earlier programmes, it also has a focus on cross-border initiatives. www.seupb.eu

The International Fund for Ireland www.internationalfundforireland.com is an independent international organisation established by the Irish and British Governments in 1986. The Fund’s main objectives are to promote economic and social advance and encourage contact, dialogue and reconciliation between Unionists and Nationalists throughout Ireland. Contributors to the Fund are the United States of America, the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Since its inception, the Fund has committed more than £707million/€890million to a wide variety of projects in Northern Ireland and the southern border counties. Developing and funding initiatives that tackle segregation and promote integration to build a lasting peace in Northern Ireland and the southern border counties is a key priority for the Fund.