Department of Culture Communications Sport

Creative Ireland is holding an open grant call for funding of approximately 10-15 Creative Climate Action projects lasting three years (36-month period) from 2026 to 2029. The successful grantees will likely include institutions and organisations with capacity to deliver large-scale projects, such as national cultural, climate and community organisations, NGOs, businesses, local authorities, networks and academic institutions working in the intersection of climate action, adaptation and creativity. There will be a focus on inter-disciplinary teams that include community partners, climate scientists, evaluators, and creative practitioners. The total value of grant funding is €6.5 million. A comprehensive, independent evaluation of the Creative Climate Action Fund III (2026-2029) initiative will provide an invaluable evidence-base to demonstrate to policymakers and funding Departments the impact and value of the initiative and its scalability. There is growing acknowledgement amongst policymakers that narrow macroeconomic measures like GDP do not capture the full range of citizens’ lived experiences. A sole focus on indicators like GDP can lead to other aspects of life – particularly those that cannot be easily assigned a monetary value, such as wellbeing, social inclusion and just transition – being undervalued. It is important that the final research equally balances both elements. It is envisaged that the process of the research will include, but not be limited to: * Coordination of 10-15 embedded evaluators at project level. The grantees are required to have an embedded evaluator in place at the beginning of the project. The successful tenderer is expected to develop a community of practice of the embedded evaluators group via 3-4 meetings per year to ensure a consistent approach to evaluation at project level. * Leading a workshop around evaluation methodologies and support in clarifying project outputs and outcomes for the embedded evaluators in 2026. * Regular update meetings between the Creative Ireland team and the successful tenderer, approximately 4 meetings per year, will be scheduled throughout the life of the contract * Focus Groups with participants across all projects. These focus group may be made up of different disciplines, difference themes, geographical relevance etc. 5-6 different focus groups are anticipated. * One-to-One interviews with a broad cross section of stakeholders. This stakeholder group will be selected in collaboration with the Creative Ireland team, and it is anticipated that approximately 20-30 interviews will be undertaken. * Coordination with other Creative Ireland evaluations (e.g. Shared Island) to ensure that participants in projects are not being evaluated by multiple different sources

The Creative Climate Action Fund III (2026-2029) is a key deliverable for the Creative Climate Action and Sustainability pillar of the Creative Ireland Programme. This fund seeks to build on the premise that transformational action on climate change requires cultural change throughout society, and with the ambition to utilise the potential of the arts, creativity and heritage to inspire and empower the culture change needed to transform to a net zero Ireland by 2050. A key finding of the evaluation of the first fund was the need for training and development of project leaders to ensure that this investment realises the object of building enduring capacity in the sector. There will be organisations from different sectors in receipt of the grant funding including: arts and cultural organisations, local authorities, research institutions, environmental groups and community development organisations. We envisage that there will be up to 15 projects funded. These projects teams have a good knowledge of climate action. However, a consistency of understanding of the policy objectives and best-practice methods of project delivery will be essential to the success of the fund. Therefore, this training and development package will: * Ensure a consistency of technical knowledge across all project teams * Ensure a consistency of approach to be taken on dialogue between projects and with communities the projects are engaging and facilitating dialogue with, to ensure that this aligns with the approach taken in the National Dialogue on Climate Action (NDCA) * Ensure full understanding of the policy framework as set out in the Climate Action Plan 2025. * Support individual projects in their approach to data collection and evaluation * Support project management and communications functions within individual projects * Provide a supportive network for the projects to facilitate collaboration and sharing of skills, knowledge and best practice It is envisaged that that the training will be delivered in a mixture of in person and online settings. Most of the elements of this training and development will be delivered in a initial residential workshop setting to assist the fund recipients to develop their networks. This is particularly important for this fund, due to the cross-sectoral nature of the partnerships. While the tender will seek a private sector provider, it is envisaged that the Creative Ireland Programme will work with the provider and utilise public sector capacity in the co-creation of the training materials and training delivery including possible guest speakers (i.e. Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (DCEE), the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)).

The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, through Culture Ireland, invites tenders to this request for tenders (“RFT”) from economic operators (“Tenderers”) for the provision of an online application and assessment portal and case management system to administer grant supports for Culture Ireland. The objective of this process is to accept, review, assess and manage applications that are submitted through the online application function and the subsequent management of and reporting on grants. Where possible, Culture Ireland is seeking an already developed and established product with limited modifications required, in order to meet its functional requirements. The Portal will need to be launched mid-July 2026 to facilitate the intake of applications.

In May 2025, The National Archives began construction of a new repository at its Bishop street premises. The new repository is now nearing completion with an expected handover date of March 2026. In advance of the construction work commencing, the National Archives moved a large quantity of its records off-site to a storage provider in Dublin 15 for safekeeping. It is now our intention to recant the c.48,000 Archival boxes into the newly constructed repository. The National Archives also maintains Archival storage at the Four Courts. It is intended to use this opportunity bring c.12,000 Archival boxes from the Four Courts to Bishop Street. Due to the quantities of boxes involved, the National Archives is also seeking additional help to organise and shelve the returning archival boxes and to relocate boxes already on-site in Bishop Street. It is intended to commence this work in April 2026. Requirements Working closely with both the current storage provider and the NAI Storage Manager the following services are required: 1. Transport of Archival Boxes from Storage Facility in Dublin 15 to the National Archives, Bishop Street Dublin 2. The National Archives are seeking the return of 1,000 boxes per week from the storage providers facility in Dublin 15 to its premises at Bishop Street, Dublin 8. 2. Transport of c.12,000 Archival boxes from the NAI storage vaults in the Four Courts to Bishop Street. As part of the recant, the National Archives is also returning boxes from the Four Courts to Bishop Street for permanent storage in the new repository. Due to the Four Courts Storage facility being in close proximity to Court rooms, the movement of a large quantity of boxes can only occur during the Courts Summer recess. Therefore, this work must be carried out in August/September 2026. Please note the limit of 1,000 boxes per week does not apply to this work as it must be completed in a limit time period. The c,12,000 boxes must be transported in a 4-6 week period. 3. Operatives to help with the organisation and shelving of returning boxes and the relocation of boxes already on-site into the new repository. The NAI requires help in organising and shelving boxes coming from off-site storage, the Four Courts and the relocation of c.12,000 boxes from existing storage at Bishop Street to the new Repository. In total, the National Archives require assistance in organising and shelving c.70,000 Archival Boxes. - The shelving of boxes returning from off-site storage is to be carried out on the days around deliveries of the boxes. - The shelving of boxes returning from the Four Courts is to be carried out on the days around deliveries from the Four Courts - The moving of boxes from existing storage at Bishop St to the new repository is to take place in May/June 2026. This work will be co-ordinated with the NAI Storage Manager. All work must be completed be completed within a maximum of 18 months.

The Department of Culture, Communications and Sport (DCCS) wishes to inform the market that it intends to progress a procurement process relating to the development of international subsea telecommunications connectivity. This supports the Government of Ireland’s intent to ensure the security and resilience of our digital infrastructure across our networks and sub-sea cable infrastructure, as announced in the recently published National Digital and AI Strategy 2030 (“Digital Ireland: Connecting our People, Securing our Future”). DCCS will undertake a structured supply chain and market engagement process over the coming months to help shape the final procurement approach, with the intention of issuing the tender within 12 months. The development aims to ensure direct and robust subsea fibre connectivity between Ireland and Mainland Europe on an ongoing basis to 2050, with an adequate level of redundancy and diversity. The main objective is to diversify Ireland’s international subsea telecommunications connectivity and in particular to enable the delivery of at least two new subsea cable routes from Ireland to Northern Europe with delivery of the first route commencing by circa 2031. Interested parties are encouraged to: • Monitor eTenders and ensure the appropriate CPV codes are selected so that notifications relating to this engagement are received. • Await further details on upcoming supplier briefings, market engagement activities, and the release of formal documentation will follow. • Begin considering any potential solutions, innovations, efficiencies, or value adding approaches they may wish to bring forward during the procurement process. DCCS anticipates active engagement with industry throughout this phase. Input from the market will be used to inform the design of the procurement, enhance value for money, and support efficient and effective delivery of the overall programme. This notice provides potential bidders with an overview of DCCS’s proposed intervention in Ireland’s international subsea telecommunications cable market. It outlines the programme objectives, the preferred intervention model, and expected future procurement activity. Subsea telecommunications cables carry approximately 99% of global data traffic and are essential for Ireland’s economic and digital infrastructure. As an island nation and a European technology hub, Ireland requires resilient, high capacity, and diverse subsea connections to support future demand and strengthen direct connectivity with EU Member States, and to provide for onward connectivity, through those new connections, to markets in Africa, Asia, and South America A Strategic Assessment and Preliminary Business Case (PBC) have been completed in line with the Infrastructure Guidelines. These assessments concluded that a significant funding gap exists in the development of new subsea cable links between Ireland and the EU. Preferred Intervention Approach A range of State intervention options were considered. Following financial and economic appraisal, a hybrid intervention solution has been identified as the preferred approach. This hybrid solution includes: 1. Early-Stage Marine Survey Support: Upfront funding for marine surveys. This will facilitate detailed project design for the realisation of viable solutions. 2. Capital Grant Support and availability payment support for delivery of viable projects: This may be initiated as a second stage to bridge funding gaps and enable delivery for future projects. Forward Notice of Procurement Activity This briefing note serves as advance notification to the market that: • A procurement process for the initial subsea cable project (Early-Stage Marine Support) is expected to commence following Approval Gate 2. • Further procurements relating to additional subsea cable projects in accordance with 2 above may be initiated at a later date. Potential bidders are encouraged to monitor future DCCS publications and procurement portals for updates.

The successful tenderer will be responsible for the further development of all existing websites mainly Wordpress and 1 Drupal website, these are both hosted on-premise and cloud hosted. There may be a requirement for the migration of sites from other CMS Platforms to Wordpress when necessary. The successful tender will be responsible for the development, support, hosting and maintenance for all the websites currently under the remit of the Department.

Services to manage consultation with key senior health and arts and culture policy makers, towards drafting of the second Strategic Action Plan for Creative Arts and Health.

Background: Culture Ireland will deliver the International Culture Programme to mark Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the second half of 2026. The Culture Programme represents a unique opportunity to contribute positively to the appreciation of our cultural identity in Europe and to highlight our EU Presidency to third countries. Culture Ireland requires an EU Culture Programme Manager to develop, manage, coordinate and deliver the EU Culture Programme under the direction of Culture Ireland. A Programme Manager with extensive and current experience and understanding of international and Irish contemporary arts sectors, across a wide range of art-forms is required for this programme of events, which will be tightly focused both in Ireland and across Europe, with special strategic focus on key EU partners including Germany and France, as well as events at the main venues in Brussels.