Youth Theatre Ireland is delighted to announce the commencement of the Drama Facilitation Training Course 2025/2026, which began on September 13th, 2024, at Maynooth University. This accredited course runs part-time from September 2025 to May 2026 and has a cohort of 32 participants from all across Ireland.
This year's participants, listed below, come from a wide variety of regions and backgrounds, each bringing a shared interest in enhancing their skills in drama facilitation and youth theatre
Abigail Carolan
Ania Kudriavtseva
Aisling Gaffney
Andrew Keegan
Aoife Barrett
Aoife Garvan
Caitríona Heslin
Chloe Commins
Christian Carbin
Ciara Julia Ryan
Ciara Kelleher
Craig Bodger
Darrell Elliott
Eimear Hussey
Ellie Taggart
Faith Olasogba
Grace Mckenna
Gráinne Holmes Blumenthal
Ania Kudriavtseva
Hannah Carberry
Katie Lacey-Curtis
Kayleigh Horan
Marianne Bradley
Mary Lane
Matthew Ledden
Molly Foley
Nessa Matthews
Pauline Sartori
Rachel Thornton
Shonagh Burke
Teri FitzGerald
Vicky Daunt
Yakup Bas
The course encompasses two QQI Level 6 modules: Leadership and Engaging with Drama. Participants will acquire practical facilitation skills and creative methodologies for planning and leading projects with young people. Designed to accommodate both newcomers and experienced facilitators, the course meets one weekend per month, providing flexible, in-depth training to support personal and professional growth.
Thanks to additional funding initiatives we are able to offer a number of bursaries to cover tuition costs. These bursaries support participants from Affiliated Youth Theatre and those currently in development.
The Paddy O'Dwyer Memorial Bursary.
The award, which will run for the next five years, supports a youth theatre leader in an affiliated or developing youth theatre group to participate in our training. The inaugural recipient is Katie Lacey Curtis from Making Waves Youth Theatre in Greystones, Co. Wicklow.
Dublin City Council Community Development Fund.
To support the development of three new youth theatres, DCC are supporting a number of bursaries for participants based in Dublin South Central. Bursaries have been award to:
Matthew Ledden, Bluebell Youth Project
Nessa Matthews , Liberties, D.8
Youth Theatre Connects Bursaries
The RTÉ Toy Show Appeal and Community Foundation Ireland grant supports increased opportunities for artistic engagement to young people facing barriers of rural isolation, disability, and socio-economic challenges. Thanks to a substantial grant of €40,000 we can support a range of initiatives for ten affiliated youth theatres. These include a number of bursaries to participate in this training. Bursaries have been award to:
Yakup Bas
Kayleigh Horan
Faith Olasogba
Pauline Sartori
Aisling Gaffney
Applications for future courses are encouraged from those interested in expanding their skills and expertise in youth theatre facilitation.For more information, please visit: https://www.youththeatre.ie/pr...