Waterford creative initiative receives share of €500,000 funding

A Waterford creative initiative has been awarded a share of €500,000 in funding from Creative Ireland. 

It's one of eight creative industries throughout the country set to benefit from the funding. 

The Creative Communities Economic Action Fund was launched today (Friday April 22) by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, who said it will provide "new creative opportunities" for the beneficiaries. 

Minister Catherine Martin said, "The creative economy has no single definition. It is an evolving concept which builds on the interplay between human creativity and intellectual property, knowledge and technology. It is essential that new creative economic activities are nurtured and supported." 

The proposal in Waterford aims to develop the regional creative economy of the South East by utilising data gathered though a new online platform called GovLab run by WIT.

This digital resource will maintain, analyse and disseminate data emerging from a live inventory of local culture and creative industry activity and will assess the impact of the creative industries on the region.

€551k will support the development of
animation
immersive games
design industry
typography skills
& more

The Creative Communities Economic Action Fund will arm Local Authorities with resources to nurture new creative economic activities https://t.co/TX3SGkh8nc pic.twitter.com/7TjbqM2gR3

— Catherine Martin TD (@cathmartingreen) April 22, 2022

Projects in Donegal, Meath, Leitrim, Sligo, Cork, Galway and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown will also benefit from the funding. 

According to the Department of Culture, projects will build on the creative and economic expertise of local authorities, local enterprise offices and other partner organisations. 

A project in Meath will establish a learning centre based on letterpress printing for third-level students, the print industry and tourists.  

Creative Coast in Donegal will explore and identify an appropriate cluster model to position the creative sector in all future development in Donegal. 

In Cork, the Munster Animation Forum aims to transform Munster into an internationally recognised powerhouse for animation, supporting the economic growth of the creative animation community across the province.