Santa Comes Early for Irish Bands

Posted 20 November 2008 Create

The IRMA Trust is donning a Santa hat early this year, speeding round the country to deliver sackfuls of free musical equipment to Ireland’s bands of tomorrow! Successful applicants in the recent initiative in association with The Arts Council (IE) and Music Network will be receiving the starter packs this month containing everything a young band need to dip a tremulous toe into the murky waters of fame and fortune.

Twenty-one facilities around Ireland were shortlisted for an intensive assessment from the sackfuls of applications for the scheme. Of these The IRMA Trust has now confirmed that twelve community facilities will receive the packages of guitars, amps, drum kits and keyboards along with a P.A. system, rehearsal recording equipment, microphones, accessories and a starter fund of €500 to get things rolling.

The successful applicants include:
The Youghal Youth Project (Cork)
County Monaghan VEC
RED South Dublin Arts Centre
Ballymun Regional Youth Resources (Dublin)
Model Arts and Niland Gallery (Sligo)
The Attic Youth Café (Cork)
Youth Work Ireland Phoenix Youth Centre (Roscommon)
West Dublin YMCA
Kerry Diocesan Youth Service “Live Band Project”
Gurranbraher / Churchfield Development Centre (Cork)
Carlow Regional Youth Services
Killaloe / Ballina Family Resource Centre (Carlow)

Three additional facilities with particularly strong applications will also receive a selection of instruments from The IRMA Trust Instrument Bank. These include:
Cavan Community Youth Projects
Donegal Youth Service

All in all the initiative will be distributing €130,000 worth of brand new equipment to rehearsal spaces open to bands from the local community.

As one of Ireland’s most successful new bands Delorentos, who helped launch the initiative in June, commented: “The big thing for bands starting out is the expense and the lack of someone helping them along. The IRMA Trust has provided this money to set up facilities and have instruments available so that those bands can go along and get started!”

Dick Doyle, Chair of the IRMA Trust stated that “The Trust is delighted with the outcome of the Capital Music Scheme. We were astonished at the level of music activity nationwide and are very pleased to be able to provide assistance to fifteen organisations throughout the country.

Our original mission was to give something back from the industry and to provide young people with the opportunity to be actively involved in making music. This scheme is a most fitting final programme for the IRMA Trust. We hope that these new partnerships between the music industry, The Arts Council and the youth arts community endure into the future and that these new rehearsal rooms are filled with music.”