Arts, Culture, and Heritage

Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, Department for Communities NI, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council

Building on the precious Shared Island arts capital investment projects, the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport will complete assessment of a proposed capital funding contribution towards the construction of Newry Theatre, as part of the city's wider regeneration programme.

There will also be a funding contribution to support production of Other Voices in Derry, with a focus on showcasing Northern Ireland artists from across all communities, and profiling the North West as a music and cultural centre to national and international audiences.

A series of new Arts and Cultural Heritage programmes are being developed to deepen cultural cooperation, exchange and understanding, both North South and East West. These include a Shared Island Cultural Cooperation Fund to support new collaborative cross-border performance, production, and cultural exhibitions, including through National Cultural Institution cooperation; touring and productions; and screen sector and cultural asset digitisation cooperation.

New programmes exploring Irish language and Ulster Scots language, culture and heritage are also being developed.

The Creative Ireland-Shared Island programme harnesses creativity to build person-to-person and community-to-community connections across the island. 47 cross-border and all-island creative projects took place under the initial €6m phase of the programme (2023 - 2025).

Update: Phase 1 projects, and the cross-border relationships that they fostered, were celebrated at an all-island conference in November 2025. A further €9.3m was also allocated for phase 2 of the programme (2026 - 2028), under which four grant calls have now issued.

About: In 2025, the Taoiseach announced the Shared Home Place programme - a new dialogue phase of the Shared Island Initiative, inviting communities across the island and beyond to build new connections through our place-based culture and heritage. €6m from the SIF will support the delivery of initial elements of the programme.

These include initiatives being led by the Heritage Council to promote public engagement with Shared Home Place themes through local libraries, museums, archives, and galleries, as well as the creation of an all-island Local Government Heritage Network to support collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

The OPW are bringing together an overall funding package, including a €10m contribution from the SIF, for a renewed visitor experience to raise the heritage and tourism profile of this important site.

Update: Preparatory archaeological and ecological surveys for the new visitor experience have been completed, and procurement for the integrated design team to lead on the project is underway.