Mid and East Antrim secures £128,000 for new cross-border ‘Creative Communities, Connected Futures’
Thursday 2 July 2026
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council has welcomed the award of around £128,000 for an ambitious new cross-border Creative Communities, Connected Futures that will see it once again partner with Waterford City and County Council through a shared programme of arts, culture and creative placemaking at a local level.
Building on the success of the previous ‘Building Shared Creative Communities’ initiative, the new two-year project will bring together artists, community groups and residents from across the island to reimagine underused spaces, celebrate shared heritage and strengthen connections between places and people through arts, culture and creative placemaking.
Speaking about the funding award, Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough, Alderman Tom Gordon, said: “Residents in Mid and East Antrim can expect a wide range of opportunities to get involved, including through theatre and storytelling projects developed with professional mentors. There will also be creative writing and illustration programmes delivered through local libraries, traditional music collaborations, and heritage and storytelling trails. These activities will create new cultural experiences while building skills, confidence, and connections within the community.”
At the heart of the programme is a strong local focus on Larne and Carrickfergus, where creative placemaking activity will help unlock the potential of buildings such as Larne Market Yard and Carrickfergus Civic Centre as future cultural and creative hubs.
Working closely with local town teams, artists and community organisations, the project will support residents in shaping the future of their towns by exploring vacant or underused spaces and to increase access to arts and cultural participation.
Creative micro-residencies will form a central part of the programme, with artists from different disciplines embedded in Larne and Carrickfergus to work alongside local communities. Together they will develop new creative work inspired by local stories and identity while testing innovative approaches to long-term cultural investment in the Borough.
The initiative further strengthens communities from Mid and East Antrim with those in Portlaw and Dunmore East in Waterford, creating opportunities for exchange visits, joint workshops, and collaborative projects. Participants will explore shared themes such as heritage, regeneration, and community identity, while learning from each other’s experiences of town centre renewal and cultural development.
This cross-border partnership builds on an already strong relationship between the two councils and reflects a continued commitment to fostering connection, understanding, and collaboration through creativity.
Katherine Collins, Creative Ireland Coordinator for Waterford, said: “We are delighted to be part of Creative Communities, Connected Futures, a project that will continue to deepen our already strong and successful relationship with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. This is an exciting all-island cultural collaboration, and our programme will look to empower our communities to shape their own futures through creativity, while strengthening connections with partners in Mid and East Antrim. It is a significant opportunity to unlock the potential of our town centres and support our vibrant local creative sector.”
The funding forms part of a wider €3.7 million Shared Island programme over three years for creative, community-based projects across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland under the Creative Ireland Programme. Support will be provided to 28projects, including 16 cross-border collaborations focused on exploring shared cultural experiences.
The Creative Communities, Connected Futures project will start in autumn 2026 and run for two years.