Hundreds of events will take place on Monday as part of Cruinniú na Cásca,the first national signs of the legacy left by last year’s centenary Easter Rising commemorations.
Launching it in March, Taoiseach Enda Kenny set high ambitions: it would be no less than the Government’s “defining policy initiative”. Even more, it would go to the heart of “the life of our country, our imagination”.
Cruinniú na Cásca is part of the programme of Creative Ireland, led by John Concannon, the former director of Ireland 2016, which bids to improve all things cultural in every parish in the country.
Since its launch in December last year, Colcannon and his team have been to many of those parishes for public meetings. In all, 31 public meetings will be held.
It is a path well travelled. The Ireland 2016 team hosted 84 public meetings before the Easter Rising centenary and it paid off. The commemorations, like the Gathering in 2013, were a grassroots success.
Some 3,500 events were staged last year, most of them run by local communities. This time, the Government could simply have declared what Creative Ireland is and how it will be achieved.
However, that is that is to miss the point, says Concannon. The Government has proposed; the people will dispose: “This is the opposite of Trump and Brexit,“We want the public to have ownership of this process.”
He makes the same pitch every time. Yes, Ireland is not perfect, but look at all the good things. Look at the sense of national and local pride revealed by last year’s commemorations.
Wellbeing of children
How can we harness this? How can we increase the wellbeing of children and communities by putting creativity at the centre of our national life, he asks his audience.
Creative Ireland bids to use “culture to make Ireland a better place”, he says. In that, local identity is critical. “Ireland’s not all about the Cliffs of Moher and Dublin city centre. Every community has a story.”
Recently, 120 people turned up at the Kilmore Hotel in Cavan for Creative Ireland's road show, more than organisers had expected. Two tables had to be brought in from outside.
In Wexford 280 people came. In Galway the Druid Theatre was packed. Most who turn up have links with the arts. There is a lively arts community in Cavan, as there is in most counties.
Creative Ireland has a number of targets, the most eye-catching of which declares that all children in Ireland will have access to music, art, drama or coding by the State’s centenary in 2022.
Such a target has never been set anywhere else. One of the successful lessons drawn from last year’s commemoration was the need to devolve responsibility locally.
Every county will have a Creative Ireland programme with a local arts officer. Wrapping up, Concannon quotes last year’s Irish Times editorial which praised Creative Ireland as an antidote to today’s “sour pessimism”.
Then, he throws the debate open to the floor. “We want to hear your ideas. We live in a republic.” One man ponders why the Irish constantly seek the validation of outsiders.
Last year's 1916 commemorations told us a lot about ourselves, says one woman. German woman Anke Morgenroth, who owns a Teddy Bear shop in Bawnboy, believes Creative Ireland will demonstrate that there is more to Ireland than the "craic and drinking".
Some concerns are local. Many feel Cavan does not do a good job at selling itself, a refrain held elsewhere, too. For instance, Cavan, famously, has 365 lakes, but not one can be walked around.
Equally, the county is short of stages for artists. Listening, Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs Heather Humphreys says: "You can see there is no stifling of opinion here.
“If we get a buy-in from the Irish citizen, we can make this a success,” says the Minister, who is, politically, in charge of Creative Ireland, and the one responsible for arguing for its budget.
Describing the public meetings as “incredibly important”, Colcannon said they focus on the “us”, rather than the “them” – the pejorative catch-all term for the powers that be.
“People are very supportive of the fact that Creative Ireland first and foremost focuses on us, our people and our communities, and by doing so will make Ireland a better place.”
The focus most of all on children is praised, though Kevin O’Connor of the Gonzo Youth Theatre based in Cavan Town says he will reserve judgement until he finds out more.
Ambitions
Ireland is only one of three countries that has drama on the primary school curriculum, but scaling it up to meet Creative Ireland’s ambitions will involve much greater support.
“We’ve all been there before. We’ve heard the platitudes. We have to go beyond them this time,” declares O’Connor. Concannon concedes the point, but insists it will be different this time.
Three reports on the importance of fostering childhood creativity were published in 1978, 2006 and 2012. “They weren’t really implemented. We’re going to make it happen this time.”
This time, it has political backing. Taoiseach Enda Kenny is chairing the Creative Ireland committee of Cabinet members. His secretary-general Martin Fraser is directly in charge of implementation.
The Creative Ireland public meeting in Dublin, held in the community centre in Sheriff Street in the inner-city draws a full house, too. Here, the main theme is how such communities can assert their own cultural identity.
The meeting is addressed by local TD and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe who is responsible for finding the funding to make Creative Ireland happen.
"When you look across the world at the moment, you see culture and national identity being exclusive instead of inclusive," he tells the meeting, citing similar comments by the film director Lenny Abrahamson.
Everybody who engages with Creative Ireland questions where the money will come from. There is no price tag as there are, as yet, no specifics.
“There are always going to be competing pressures,” the Minister acknowledges.
“Finding a way to support the souls of communities is even more important than it has been. I’m really up for doing it. Money is essential in doing this,” he says.
However, he points out that the Gathering – derided initially, but then embraced – showed what could be done cheaply by local communities, once they were given just small amounts of help, if any at all.
Creative Ireland's plan will outlast this government, and perhaps the next. Will Fianna Fáil carry it on, if in power? Fergal Curtin, the FF chairman of Cavan County Council, says yes: "There is no opposition in this."
FIVE PILLARS OF CREATIVE IRELAND
* Enabling the creative potential of every child: Proposals to allow every child access to lessons in music, drama/dance, art or coding is likely to be introduced on a phased basis between now and 2022.
* Enabling creativity in every community.
* Investing in our creative and cultural infrastructure: All the major cultural institutions such as the National Gallery and the Abbey Theatre will have five year plans.
* Ireland as a centre of excellence in media production: This is an aspiration to make Ireland a world leader in film production and animation.
* Unifying our global reputation: Countries such as New Zealand have developed successful branding operations to sell a unified message to the world. It is proposed that Ireland follows suit.
