uk–ireland culture connects grant 2026-27

The UK-Ireland Culture Connects Grant is a British Council grant programme supporting artistic collaboration between the four nations of the UK and Ireland. It is developed and delivered in association with Arts Council Ireland. It aims to support emerging artists and art practitioners to collaborate with each other and develop work that would benefit from in-person collaboration. Applicants can be an arts practitioner in Ireland who wishes to work with one based in the UK nations or one practitioner in the UK who wishes to work with an arts collaborator in Ireland.

The focus of this fund is to strengthen and consolidate the initial stages of collaborations between art professionals. This fund has been specifically designed to aid in-person creative development between two or more individuals who can demonstrate an idea or initiative that would substantially benefit from a period of time working together. It is not output-oriented but is outcomes-oriented and has been designed to support the development of the applicant’s practice in conjunction with an arts collaborator.