This article is from page 12 of the 2011-09-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 12 JPG
THE views of Clare’s music community will be sought as part of an effort to secure a € 200,000 funding deal that could create new employment and transform the teaching of music in the county.
Clare VEC is currently in the process of preparing a new application for funding from the Music Generation Initiative, which is backed by music giants U2.
Musicians, teachers and young people throughout the county will be surveyed while Clare VEC is also hoping that support from the University of Limerick will “strengthen the application considerably”.
If successful the Clare bid, which is also supported by organizations including Clare County Council, Shan- non Development and music school Maoin Cheoil and Chláir, would see music teachers employed to work in school and out of school settings, teaching music to children and young adults around the county.
Acclaimed musician and scholar Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin is among the high profile supporters of the Clare application, which will seek to capitalize on the Banner County’s strong association with music.
Despite making an initial 23 county shortlist, Clare missed out on round one funding from the initiative, which has been made possible through the support of U2 and the Ireland Fund that supports music eduction to the tune of € 7m.
Dr Sean Conlan, Education Officer with Clare VEC, explained that Clare VEC on behalf of the Clare Music Education Partnership is developing an application for funding under round two of the Music Generation Initiative.
In his monthly report to members of the Clare VEC committee, Dr Conlan explained that the maximum fund available to each successful project is € 200,000.
He added, “Additional assistance from the University of Limerick has been achieved and this should strengthen the application considerably. Additional consultation sessions with music teachers, providers and young people will be a feature of the new application.”
Music Generation will provide three-year seed funding to establish local services, which will be sustained by Music Education Partnerships on a long-term basis.