Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan TD, has today announced a new phase of the Night-Time Economy support scheme aimed at independent grassroots venues.
Speaking at The Roisín Dubh in Galway City, Minister O’Donovan announced that €1 million has been allocated towards helping small established venues.
The Grassroots Venue Support Scheme (GVSS) is aimed at venues which promote themselves and are known in the community as live performance venues.
Specifically, venues that showcase emerging Irish acts or artists performing live music or comedy that they have written or created themselves.
The scheme is being introduced in recognition of both the contribution that grassroots music venues make to the music industry by nurturing emerging acts, and also the challenges facing these venues.
“Grassroots venues are the lifeblood of our music scene and are so important in the development of our emerging talent and in the creation of jobs right across the creative sector,” Minister O’Donovan said.
“Supporting these important cultural hubs in our local communities ensures that the next generation of artists will still have a place to develop their careers, perform live and build their audiences at home here in Ireland.”
In 2025, the Grassroots Music Venue Support Scheme operated with an allocation of €500k, offering grants of up to €15,000 to established venues with a proven track record of ticketing emerging artists over a two-year period.
The 2026 scheme will operate in two separate funding streams. The first will offer grants of up to €20k to established grassroots venues with a proven track record of at least two years in programming events showcasing emerging Irish acts and artists.
The second will provide grants of up to €8k will be offered to venues that demonstrate that they have in the past 12 months programmed Irish artists or acts, and that can demonstrate that they can use funding under this scheme to programme ticketed events showcasing emerging artists or acts.
Under the scheme, venues are required to ensure that all artists and freelance crew are paid. Venues may also apply for funding towards production and crew costs, PR, advertising, ticketing, the hire of equipment, the hiring of security staff and event insurance costs.
Welcoming the launch of the Scheme today, Edel Curtin, Coughlan’s Cork, speaking on behalf of the Live Venue Collective, said, “We greatly welcome the announcement of the Grassroots Venue Support Scheme 2026.”
“This is not just vital financial help for our venues; it is also an acknowledgement of the essential role our stages play in the development of Irish artists.”
“There is a long and challenging road ahead in keeping our grassroots venues open and functioning and this support is a step in the right direction.”
“We want to thank Minister O’Donovan for his continued commitment to support these culturally vital spaces.”
The scheme has opened to applications today, and will remain open until noon on March 30.
