Six Sligo people have got the chance of a lifetime to showcase their work to an international audience this weekend.

The six, who were chosen from a huge number of applicants, will get to showcase their work at Showcase Ireland 2006, taking place in the RDS in Dublin from January 22-25.

Participant Olga Higgins from Rathcormac who hand-crafts stained glass said: "I am working on a number of projects in the locality and countrywide at the moment but I am hoping that through Source and displaying my work at Showcase Ireland 2006 I will be able to expand my market to an international level"

June Murphy, LEADER Programme Manager with Sligo LEADER Partnership said the response to the Source project was fantastic. She said: "We have a number of well known producers on board as well as those who are in the initial stages of setting up their businesses. Some of the participants from Sligo will have the opportunity to highlight their work at this year’s Showcase Ireland, which is attended each year by buyers from around the world."
She outlined that a number of training sessions are being planned for later in the year along with a trade mission to Sweden and a launch of a new e-commerce website. "Source will not only provide a support network for participant businesses but that it will also highlight the north-west region as an area of creative excellence," she added. Source - Developing Rural Creativity, the cross border international programme aimed at developing rural creativity in the border counties of Sligo, Fermanagh, Leitrim and North Roscommon, is helping creative businesses in the Sligo area to flourish and develop.
As part of the Source - Developing Rural Creativity programme, six participants from the Sligo area were chosen to avail of this huge opportunity, where they will show at Ireland’s international trade fair for craft, gift, fashion, jewellery and interiors.

The programme, which is affiliated with a similar initiative in the Vasternorrland region of Sweden, has already signed up 260 participants from across the region. Funded by the LEADER Transnational Action II Programme and managed by Sligo LEADER Partnership, Fermanagh Local Action Group (FLAG, and Arigna LEADER (Leitrim and North Roscommon), Source provides training, grants and exposure for small and start up businesses in the creative sector.

Creative industries contribute significantly to the development and regeneration of disadvantaged rural areas. This project uniquely brings creative businesses together to network and share expertise while helping to raise the profile of the area as a centre of viable economic opportunity.

Source - Developing Rural Creativity will shortly be launching an e-commerce website, www.ruralcreativity.com, where many participants will have access to an international buying audience.

Meanwhile, Showcase is taking place in Dublin’s RDS from 22- 25th January.