The LCYPs combine a wide range of human and infrastructural resources to develop and provide out-of-school creative activities for children and young people that complement and work with the formal school settings.

The partnerships will bring together the ETBs (including youth officers and other relevant personnel), local authorities (arts officers, Creative Ireland coordinators, heritage officers, librarians etc.), education centres, representatives of the local early years’ sector (County Childcare Committee), representatives of the non-formal education sector, relevant Government Department representatives and local cultural and creativity resources.

Minister Foley said: “I have been very impressed by the work of the three existing pilot LCYPs since they were established in 2019. The target audience for all LCYP programmes and initiatives is children and young people in local communities (in ‘out of school’ settings with a particular focus on those who are marginalised or experience disadvantage.

“I am pleased to now be able to double the number of LCYPs, providing the opportunity to access arts and creativity outside the classroom to more children and young people.

While the LCYPs are a Department of Education-led initiative, this year Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, Media, Catherine Martin TD has also made funding available to support the initiative.

Minister Martin said: “LCYPs are considered to be one of the main initiatives in the “out of school” strand of the Creative Youth programme. LCYPs are expected to focus primarily on collaborating with the youth sector, Youthreach Centres, the Early Years’ sector and other sectors/organisations that engage in creative and cultural activities and programmes or other out of school programmes with children and young people”.

Each LCYP is afforded support by Hub na nÓg, which is a service of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) and a centre of excellence on children and young people’s participation in decision-making. One of the criteria for funding for the LCYPs is that children and young people are involved in decision-making on all aspects of the development, implementation and evaluation of the annual programme.

LCYPs are required to involve children and young people in decision-making from the outset. This should include decision-making in the determining of a LCYP’s objectives, actions and intended outcomes. The views of children and young people on existing local provision, access to creative opportunities, gaps in provision and the new creative opportunities they would like, for inclusion in the annual programme of each LCYP. The planning tool for LCYP development will be based on the revised Lundy model and National Implementation Framework for Child Participation Planning Checklist.

Both Ministers wished the three new LCYPs every success in their work going forward.