Evaluation of Creative Ireland's Shared Island initiative, 2026-2028

In 2022 the Creative Ireland Programme was allocated €6 million over three years (2023-25) to invest in creative initiatives under the Government’s Shared Island initiative. 2023 marked the first year of Creative Ireland’s participation in the initiative, which aims to harness the full potential of the Good Friday Agreement to enhance cooperation, connection and mutual understanding on the island and engage with all communities and traditions to build consensus around a shared future. The Shared Island dimension to the Creative Ireland Programme seeks to deploy creativity on a shared island basis to:

1. Increase opportunities for cross-community cultural and creative initiatives between children and young people
2. Support local authorities to enhance networks of creativity in support of vibrant and inclusive people-to-people and community-to-community partnerships
3. Position Ireland as a global leader in demonstrating the value of creativity and mental health including in post-conflict societies
4. Deepen collaborations for a more environmentally and socially sustainable island.

An evaluation of the first phase was published in March 2026 and is available in the publications section of Creative Ireland's website. Following a government decision, Creative Ireland’s Shared Island initiative has received €9.3m in funding for a second phase from 2026-2028. Following a series of recent grant calls, Creative Ireland is working to evaluate applications with the intention of awarding grants in June 2026.

There will be approximately 23 Creative Ireland Shared Island projects based throughout the island of Ireland, each with its own individual project-level evaluator. It is intended that an evaluator will be in place from the outset of this iteration of the initiative to undertake the following:

1. Undertake an economic appraisal of Creative Ireland’s Shared Island initiative 2026-2028
2. Undertake a qualitative analysis of the initiative
3. Develop the capacity of the individual project-level evaluators by managing a formal evaluator network.

Further information on these requirements is outlined in the tender document. The project delivery timeline and outputs will be agreed with the successful tenderer at the outset of the project but will include an interim Report and a Final Report. In order to preserve the independence of the evaluation element of the project, Requirements 1 and 2 will need to be undertaken in isolation from Requirement 3.

It is incumbent on tenderers to demonstrate that they have the capacity and resources to carry out these different elements in this manner.