That’s a Wrap on The Ark’s 2025 BCP Programme!

Since 2021, The Ark has been supported by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht to deliver arts and cultural activities to children around the country via their local Broadband Connection Points. We reached over 315 children across Ireland this year with our BCP programme - from Glensmole to Inishbofin!

This year, The Ark worked with Broadband Officers and BCP centre managers across the country to learn about these sites and develop a bespoke summer and autumn programme that responded to their interests and needs.

Take a look at the video below to learn more about our digital workshops programme and the importance of access to the arts in communities across Ireland.

Our BCP Programme 2025

We made available a suite of our Live From The Ark filmed performances – including the premiere of The Haircut – to over 100 children and 35 adults in Cork, Galway, Monaghan, Fingal, Longford and Meath. Children experienced:

  • Three of Aesop’s fables through Marc Brew’s dance show, The Race
  • Met a young activist in the making, Mollie, through Anna Carey’s stage adaptation of her book, The Making of Mollie
  • Discovered a modern take on an old tale of the king with donkey’s ears in Wayne Jordan and Tom Lane’s The Haircut

This summer, children from Tipperary, South County Dublin, Galway, and Cork joined artists Ríona Sally Hartman, Dave Rudden and Laura Whelan for live digital workshops themed around the places and spaces near to them!

  • Wild Songs: a bi-lingual musical adventure with Ríona Sally Hartman
  • Find The Magic Where You Live: a fantasy, storytelling session with Dave Rudden
  • Mystic Forest: a magical arts workshop with Laura Whelan

At the October mid-term, The Ark met with BCP centres for one final spooky session, introducing artist Debora Adachi to children in South County Dublin, Cork, and Fingal for Spooky Haunted Houses, a Halloween-themed visual arts workshop.

In total, approximately 215 children and 50 adults participated in our digital workshop programme this year!

What is a BCP?

Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) are an initiative of the National Broadband Plan (NBP). DRCDG is funding a number of thematic programmes under Arts & Culture and Digital Skills and Education in BCPs to demonstrate the benefits and opportunities that connectivity offers to rural communities.

Video created by Michael David McKernan