Sir, _ It is with excitement and cautious hope that I welcome Music Network's latest project. This radical and long overdue project has received funding from the Minister for Art, Heritage and the Gaeltacht for a feasibility study regarding the setting-up of publicly-funded local Schools of Music, one per county, which would provide children with "access to affordable high-quality instrumental and vocal tuition within their own locality."
Both Sile De Valera and John O'Kane of Music Network are to be congratulated for their willingness to at last grasp the nettle and address the appalling lack of access to instrumental tuition in rural counties. I have no doubt that local authorities will be proud, with the help of national authorities, to see a vibrant School of Music operating in their county.
One has only to look at what is happening in Sligo to see how effective such a partnership is. Bodies such as Music Forum and the Irish Association of Youth Orchestras will also be very much behind the educational thrust of this Project. It is a happy co-incidence that this feasibility study precedes the building of a National Academy for the Performing Arts. Laudable as it is, such a 3rd level institution can only make pedagogical sense if the foundational level is first put in place. - Yours, etc.,
Sr. Concepta Murphy, (Music Teacher), Convent of Mercy, Ballyshannon, Co Donegal.