New council deal with ETB will be music to young Kilkenny ears

A new partnership deal between Kilkenny County Council and the Kilkenny and Carlow Education & Training Board (ETB) will see the development of a 'Music Generation Programme' throughout the county.

Music Generation is an initiative to ensure that all people — particularly children — have access to music tuition, irrespective of circumstances or background. It was set up in 2010, and has the philanthropic support of rock band U2 and the Irelands Fund.

In developing the partnership, both the council and the ETB have committed to providing €210,000 over the next three years.

At the February meeting of Kilkenny County Council, the members unanimously supported the proposals and committed their support for the programme. Chairman of the ETB Peter 'Chap' Cleere said the partnership is an exciting development, while local councillor Malcolm Noonan, who is himself a musician,also said it was very important to support it.

“I wholeheartedly welcome this — we can't underestimate the gift or power of being able to play a musical instrument,”he said.

The council and the ETB will now establish a Music Generation partnership to oversee an application to the Music Generation Programme and, hopefully, thereafter, to implement the programme. The council has also agreed to fund research to identify what gaps there are in access to music tuition around the county.

For further information, see www.musicgeneration.ie.