Partnered with Trinity since 2013, the Royal Irish Academy of Music is to receive government funding of €9 million for the redevelopment of its historic premises, it was announced today.
The Minister for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, and the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Josepha Madigan, announced the funding for the building, which is located on Westland Row. The project is being allocated €6 million from the Department of Education and Skills, with an additional €3 million provided by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
Estimated to cost €20 million in total, the remainder of the project is expected to be funded by philanthropist donations. Donations have already been received from benefactors such as Carmel Naughton, Riverdance composer Bill Whelan, and institutions including the Northern Trust Bank and KPMG.
Mitchell O’Connor said in a press statement: “The contribution of RIAM for 170 years to the education and cultural life of this country is widely valued and appreciated. Through its network of 1,700 local music education centres, it brings music into the lives of some 40,000 young people across the country each year.”
Aimed at re-developing and transforming the academy’s existing facilities at Westland Row, the project will provide modern teaching rooms, a lecture hall, research supervisor rooms, a recital hall and student and staff facilities such as common rooms and office space. It is hoped that these improvements will strengthen the academy’s reputation on the international stage.
In a press statement, Madigan said: “My department is delighted to be associated with this project which aligns very well with the aims of Creative Ireland. In particular, the project will contribute to one of the key objectives of this programme, that by 2022 every child in Ireland will have access to tuition and participation in art, music, drama and coding.”
The Royal Irish Academy of Music entered into a partnership with Trinity in 2013, becoming an associated college of the university in the hopes of developing an international centre of excellence in the performing arts.
