Tuesday 12 February 2013

Big boost in funding for local and regional museums

Ireland's Local and Regional Museums Scheme has received a welcome boost in funding from €57,000 to €300,000.

The scheme is designed to support small and medium museums across Ireland. Projects funded have to make a contribution to the development and promotion of Ireland's cultural tourism offering, to the benefit of both the domestic and foreign tourist. They should also encourage the use of local and regional museums by a larger segment of society..

Projects which benefitted from the scheme last year include the Allihies Copper Museum, the Irish Jewish Museum, Rothe House and Garden, the Dundalk County Museum and the Waterford Museum of Treasures. Successful projects included the translation of audio tours, the hosting of specific exhibitions, and the extension of opening hours.

Making the announcement of the new level of funding, Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, said: "Museums make a huge contribution to local communities, to tourism, to historical groups, and to our understanding of who we are and where we have come from. The network of small and medium museums that are found across the country are a rich repository of local knowledge, and guide us in understanding different strands of our political, social and economic history.

Applications for funding under the 2013 Scheme are invited from local and regional museums and/or organisations and institutions that operate as not for profit institutions whose primary role is to collect, safeguard, hold in trust, research, develop and interpret collections of original objects and original objects on loan, for the public benefit.

The closing date for applications is 28 March 2013. Details.