Scéim Sparánachta d’Ealaíontóirí Gaeltachta

Who is this Scheme aimed at?

The scheme is aimed at artists:

• at all stages of their professional practice. This means that they have created/produced high-quality work or shown potential, that they have appropriate qualifications and/or experience in relation to their artistic practice and that they are recognised as a professional practitioner among their fellow artists. They do not need to have a continuous income from their artistic practice. A strategic goal of Ealaín na Gaeltachta is to support artists who are early in their practice, as well as those who are well-established;
• in any artistic field or field of artistic practice;
• who are living in the Gaeltacht and operating through Irish.

A strategic goal of Ealaín na Gaeltachta is to support the youth arts, and applications from professional artists in this field of practice are welcomed.

We do not accept applications from those who are still in the education system. An exception can be made if an artist is in the middle of his or her career and is undertaking a postgraduate degree. In this case, a bursary will not support material related to the postgraduate degree itself.

How much money can I apply for?

The applicant needs to choose between two sets of grants:

1. The maximum amount for an artist who is early in their practice is €5,000
2. The maximum amount for an artist who is more advanced in their practice is €10,000

It is up to the artist to identify themselves as an artist ‘early in their practice’. They may be practising professionally for less than 5 years, or be returning to their artistic practice after a significant amount of time, or not yet have achieved major recognition for their artistic work.

What will the Bursary support?

The emphasis is on the expense of your own time, to support you to pay yourself an appropriate fee so that you can focus specifically, for a period, on your artistic practice.

In addition to this, other costs that would be central or essential to the creative process and the development of your practice will be accepted, for example:

• support for you in developing a particular work by covering the cost of materials
• support for you to have another artist as your mentor for a period
• support for you to rent or buy essential equipment*
• support for you to attend a residency

*Expenditure of more than 30% of the budget on equipment will not be accepted.

How to apply

In the application form, clearly and comprehensively describe yourself as an artist, your practice so far and what you want to achieve with the help of the bursary. Send us supporting materials with the application form that clearly demonstrate your practice.

It cannot be assumed that the panel will be aware of your artistic practice or work. Applications are assessed by independent interdisciplinary panels, with different panels each year.

The application form, confirmation form and supporting material must be sent to us before the deadline.

Supporting Material

The following material must be in the application, so that the panel has enough information to assess the applications fairly:

• Your artistic CV and the CV of any other artist who will be involved in what you have proposed in question 6 of the application (a mentor, for example). Do not include personal contact details on any CV.
• Examples of your artistic work (see below for details on how to provide these).
• Any other relevant information to help the panel understand your application or practice.
• If you wish to work with a mentor or another artist, a letter of agreement from them & their CV must be included with the application.

Funding criteria

1. Artistic Quality & Professionalism: the quality of your work to date or the potential it shows, that you have appropriate qualifications and/or experience, suitable for the stage you are at in relation to your artistic practice and that you are recognised as a professional practitioner among your fellow artists. You don’t need to have a continuous income from your artistic practice.
2. The quality of the project and how the application fits with the aims of the scheme: The expected impact of the investment of time and any action/measure you have proposed in the application for fostering excellence in your practice.
3. Irish language: This scheme is aimed at artists living in the Gaeltacht and operating through Irish in the context of their artistic practice.

Grant Conditions

If you are awarded a bursary, you will need to accept the grant conditions and claim the grant within 18 months of the date of the offer. You will need to provide us with tax clearance details to claim the first 75% of the grant and share a report on what you have achieved with the help of the bursary to claim the final 25%.

Accessibility Supports

If you have a disability and would like help to apply, please contact us at ealain@udaras.ie as soon as possible before the deadline.

You will be able to apply for additional expenses if you have accessibility requirements relating to your application. The following are some possible examples of supports for your activities that you can apply for if you need them:

• A typist or scribe to whom you can express your ideas
• Transport costs if you have impaired mobility

Please note: You cannot apply for accessibility costs towards completing your application.