Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Arts Office (dlr Arts Office) in partnership with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Children and Young People’s Services Committee (dlr CYPSC) and Carmona Services (Carmona Early Services and Carmona School) wish to commission an artist/s or arts organisation to create work with and for children and young people who attend Carmona Services.

This commission opportunity is designed to offer a space for children attending Carmona Services to be creative, playful and have fun though the arts. It is not intended to be an issue-based commission.

This opportunity is funded by Creative Ireland.

Carmona School and Carmona Early Services have been identified as the partner for this commission. The service caters for children aged up to eighteen years of age with a severe to profound general learning disability.

We wish to commission an artist/s or an arts organisation to create and deliver work for Cruinniú na nÓg 2023, aimed at children and young people who attend Carmona Services. In addition, we would like the artist/s or arts organisation to consider an element for children who grow up with a brother or sister who attends Carmona Services. Carmona Services supports siblings of children using their services and there are two Sibling Days planned for 2023 before the end of the school term.

Any direct outcomes from the commission will take place in Carmona Services before Cruinniú na nÓg 2023. The commission will then end in an opportunity for children not attending Carmona Services to enjoy the experience as part of Cruinniú na Óg 2023 on the 10^th of June; this may take place in a library or other suitable setting in the County. The artist/s or arts organisation will be required to give feedback and recommendations to inform future development of commissioning work with dlr Arts Office and dlr CYPSC. 

This commission is for the creation of new work. We are open to work that is at an early development stage and could be adapted and brought to completion under this commission; work which has already been publicly performed/shown is not eligible.

·      The timeline for this commission is December 2022 - June 2023. Outcomes from the commission will be shared in Carmona Services before the end of the 2023 Summer School Term. 

·      The commission will end in an opportunity for children not attending Carmona Services to enjoy the experience as part of Cruinniú na Óg on the 10^th of June 2023; this may be in a local library or other suitable venue.

·      The artist/s or arts organisation will give feedback and recommendations on this opportunity for future development.

·      The commission fee is €23,000 (inclusive of all fees, materials, performance/display costs for outcomes in Carmona Services and Cruinniú na nÓg 2023 and VAT).

CYPSC are responsible for securing better outcomes for children and young people in their area through more effective integration of existing services and interventions. CYPSC are a key structure identified by Government to plan and co-ordinate services for children and young people in every county in Ireland. Their age remit spans all children and young people aged from 0 to 24 years. The purpose of the CYPSC is to ensure effective interagency co-ordination and collaboration to achieve the best outcomes for all children and young people in their area.​ 

Carmona School caters for pupils aged between four and eighteen years of age with a severe to profound general learning disability. Carmona School’s mission is to create a space in which each pupil is happy and can flourish. Carmona works each day to provide a safe, fun, pupil-centred learning environment.

Located within the grounds of St. John of God Carmona Services in Glenageary, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. Carmona School opened April 2002. It is Funded and managed in accordance with the Department of Education and Skills rules for Primary Schools.

Kildarton is a specialised preschool for children who have a moderate, severe or profound Intellectual Disability or a Condition/Syndrome associated with an ID such as Down syndrome.

This is an open process.

The following are required:

-     A Curriculum Vitae with relevant experience.

-     A one A4 page expression of interest as to why this opportunity is of interest to your current practice.

-     A proposal containing a starting point and proposed methods of engagement with the children is required, to include outline costings.

-     2 referees for relevant work to date.

The following criteria will apply and be weighted accordingly:

-     Demonstrated suitability of previous relevant experience. (30/100)

-     Evidenced interest in working within a community environment with children and young people. Desired experience of working with children and young people with a disability (as outlined in the one-page expression of interest). (30/100)

-     Quality of outline proposal. (40/100)

Queries to Máire Davey in dlr Arts Office, mdavey@dlrcoco.ie or 01 2362756

The selected artist/s agree to keep Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Children and Young People’s Services Committee fully indemnified against all claims howsoever arising and howsoever caused in respect of any damage, loss or injury of any kind or nature, whether arising directly or indirectly from the provision of the residency and to provide evidence of Public Liability insurance which indemnifies Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Count Council with a limit of indemnity of €6.5 million.

It is the responsibility of the selected artist/s to ensure that other person(s) not employed by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, but employed by the artist/s to assist them with the commission have adequate Public Liability (€6.5 million) and Employer’s Liability (€13 million) cover which indemnify both Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the artist.

Full Garda Clearance will be a requirement for this commission. It is a legal requirement that all persons working with children, young people and vulnerable people are subject to Garda Vetting. In accordance with national child protection policy, Children First National Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children, awarded recipients working with children must have a child protection policy, proper procedures and a child safeguarding statement in place.

The provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 apply to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. Applicants should state if any of the information supplied by them is confidential or sensitive and should not be disclosed to a request for information under the aforementioned Act. Applicants should state why they consider the information to be confidential or commercially sensitive.

All information provided for this expression of interest will be held in line with Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Children and Young People’s Services Committee Data Protection Policies and will remain in the sole ownership of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Arts Office and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Children and Young People’s Services Committee. Information supplied in the application will only be used by dlr Arts Office and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Children and Young People’s Services Committee for the purposes of administering and managing this particular commission opportunity. You may withdraw your consent to the retention of the information relating to your application at any point by sending an email to arts@dlrcoco.ie.  

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council reserves the right not to select if none of the applications received are deemed to be suitable. In this instance, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the partners reserve the right to pursue a different procurement process.