The Limerick and Clare
Local Creative Youth Partnership works with young people aged between 0 and 25 to help them reach their creative potential
LCYP
Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board established one of six, national Local Creative Youth Partnerships (LCYPs) in 2019, under the auspices of Creative Ireland’s Creative Youth initiative. Guided by the voice of the child and young person, the LCYP works in partnership with state and voluntary agencies to deliver creative programmes for young people, in communities across Limerick and Clare, over the life of the Creative Ireland plan up to 2022. Limerick and Clare LCYP identifies ‘the meeting point between formal and informal education’ as the site for nurturing its work and in this context works mainly in youth and community settings.
We work closely with;
Creative practitioners
Cultural organisations & resources
County Childcare Committee
Schools (Primary and Post-Primary)
Youth Officers, Youth service providers
Third Level Institutions
and family resource centres.
The objective is to provide out of school creative activities for children and young people that complement and work with formal school settings.
Strategic Plan
Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board officially launched its Local Creative Youth Partnership Strategy on Tuesday, 11 May 2021 at 10.00 am.
The launch took place on-line via Zoom Webinar.
You can view a recording of this event here.
Read the Strategic Plan here.
Please contact the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board LCYP Coordinator, Zara Star Madden for further information about this strategy.
Partnership
The partnership includes representatives from local authorities, youth work, early years, arts and education as well as from several areas within Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board. Key partners include Limerick Youth Service, Clare Youth Service and Foróige; with whom the LCYP has already delivered creative programmes in dance, photography, drama, craft, makeup, film and in a range of visual art genres. The choice of activity is based on data collected through consultation with over 300 young people across 26 youth work settings in both counties.
Since its inception in July 2019, the Limerick and Clare Local Creative Youth Partnership has delivered a range of creative programmes prioritising the voice of the child and young person as a guiding principle for all of its work.
Using methodologies developed by Hub na nÓg, over 300 young people have been consulted to date in youth and community settings, in order to get a sense of the kinds of creative activities in which they like to engage. The response has ranged from the fine arts incorporating painting, dance, music, design and writing to social, culinary and nature based programmes. Working closely with key partners in youth, community, culture, maritime and business sectors, the Partnership is now in the process of delivering on a number of programmes.
In line with Creative Ireland’s Creative Youth Plan 2017 and Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board's Youth Work Plan 2018-2021, inclusivity, youth voice, quality and visibility are core values of the Partnership’s work. Marginalised groups of young people are prioritised and in this context, travellers, migrant communities as well as young people living in social and economic disadvantage are primary target groups.
The LCYP works with young people aged between 0 and 25. Programmes completed in 2019 include Inspire which brought together a number of artists and Early Learning Childhood staff to share skills in dance and storytelling in conference settings. Future Film Makers, an initiative that offered entry level skills training for young people to gain a foothold in film and television, was also completed in 2019 and was run in collaboration with the film industry in the Mid-West.
As the LCYP embraces its second year of operation, it does so with a commitment to the principles set out here and looks forward to working in close collaboration with young people, partners, and stakeholders to develop ambitious programmes, embedding the voice of the child through all of its work.
Meet our Co-ordinator
Zara Starr Madden is the co-ordinator of LCYP at Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board.
A native of Clare, Zara has worked in the professional arts for over 15 years, as an actor, theatre maker, filmmaker, dancer, singer and mindfulness facilitator.
She began her professional life as a founding company member of ANU Productions in Dublin and has since gone on to co-found THE UNLIMITED DREAM MACHINE Integrated Theatre Company in Clare.
Her work explores the relationship between history and contemporary society, seeking the common thread that unites all humans, past, present and future. She creates Holistic Theatre, that encompasses all art forms and is made with, by and for the community.
Zara has a strong background in creating site-responsive and immersive work within communities.
Prior to her appointment as Co-ordinator of the Local Creative Youth Partnership, she worked for Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board as a youth and community-based tutor. Zara also held a position on both the Schools and Embrace artist panels within Clare Arts Office and facilitated numerous residencies for the Clare Education Centre.
Zara has been active in receiving bursaries from the Arts Council of Ireland, CREATE and Clare County Council.
For more information on the LCYP, contact Zara Starr Madden, Partnership Co-ordinator, through email zara.starrmadden@lcetb.ie or telephone 086 4120440.
Recent Projects
Our Steering Group
Sean McMahon, Chairperson
Donncha O’Treasaigh, Director of Schools, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board
Pippa Little, LCCC Acting Arts & Culture Officer, Director Creative Ireland Limerick
Dee Finn, Development Officer, Clare Childcare Committee
Mike Finneran, Head of Theatre Studies, Mary Immaculate College
Jayne Foley, Visual Art Tutor, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board, and Artistic Director, Fresh Film Festival
Cora Foley, Youth Officer, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board
Pádraig Rynne, Music Development Officer, Music Generation Clare
Seamus Bane, Youth Officer, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board
Martin Duhig, Youth Officer, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board
Hanora Hartnett, Deputy Principal, Limerick College of Further Education
Maeve Bartley, Comhairle na nÓg
Dáire Kirby, Comhairle na nÓgCommittee
Helen Walsh, Creative Ireland Clare
Ann Delaney, Limerick Childcare Committee
David O’Connell, Limerick School of Music
Martin Cournane, Assistant Manager, FET Youth and Community Training Services, Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board
Monica Spencer, LCYP Co-ordinator
Angela McNamara, Principal, Scariff Community College
Inspired by Abbeyfeale teenagers, the Young Beoirs Gathering brought together teenage girls from Limerick and Clare to share their cultural heritage for Cruinniú na Óg 2022. Girls from Ukraine, Syria, Africa, Pakistan and from local clubs in Limerick enjoyed workshops in Belly dance, henna tattoo, film, drawing, photography, make-up and making affirmation badges. One very memorable moment was created when a Ukrainian group who travelled from Ballyvaughan performed a special dance they had created for the event. Food sharing was also part of the event and young people sharing traditional dishes from Pakistan, Syria, Ukraine as well as Ireland.
