Ireland is the first, and only, country in the world to have a national day of free creativity for children and young people under 18. Cruinniú na nÓg is a flagship initiative of the Creative Ireland Programme’s Creative Youth Plan to enable the creative potential of children and young people.
Cruinniú na nÓg takes place on Saturday 15th June 2024
On Wednesday 15th May, Minister Catherine Martin will launch the national Cruinniú na nÓg programme and we will reveal our Tipperary programme.
Senan O'Brolchain has kindly agreed to be our Cruinniú na nÓg Local Ambassador for Tipperary for 2024. Senan lives in Cloughjordan and has been a member of Cloughjordan Circus Club for years and is now a peer tutor for the group. He has written a piece below about how much he enjoys his involvement with Cloughjordan Circus Club.
Cloughjordan Circus Club has always been great fun. Learning circus skills with friendly people, it's a lovely atmosphere.
One of my favourite things is that there's no competition. It's about practicing whatever tricks you want to learn, whether that's juggling three balls or balancing a feather on your nose. And if somebody next to you can do it better than you, great! Maybe they have some tips they can share.
I've learnt a lot from creating performances. Being able to take feedback, for one. My instructors and peers can see what's not working, so taking their notes on board makes the act better, even if it can be hard to hear it.
And silliness as well. I enjoy being silly and circus club gives me a space to do that. There's a performance I created with a friend, and we packed it full of silly bits because they're just so enjoyable to create and perform. There's a moment where I'm on stage watching him juggling three balls while I'm munching on a sandwich. Then he looks over at me and I act embarrassed and scamper to put it away as quickly as possible. It's wonderfully silly.
What benefit has circus club given me? I would say a lovely community that supports each other and has fun. An outlet for my creativity and love of absurdity. Somewhere to have fun with my friends. And hey, I can unicycle, you never know when that could come in handy.
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