Creative Connections is a cross-border creative writing project by Fighting Words, Fighting Words NI, and Graffiti Theatre Company, funded by Creative Ireland.
What was Creative Connections?
Creative Connections was a cross-border creative writing project by Fighting Words, Fighting Words NI and Graffiti Theatre Company, funded by Creative Ireland.
From October 2024 to June 2025, the project connected community groups in Belfast, Newry, Armagh, Louth, Monaghan, Dublin and Cork. The project was open to young people aged 15–24 and each programme was delivered by professional artists.
Groups were paired with a group across the border, and together they embarked on a shared writing quest. Each pairing decided on a creative goal to work towards. This might have been a play, a song or a collection of stories – it was up to the participants to decide!
What did the project involve?
The Fighting Words team visited the youth group’s space to deliver a series of fun, engaging writing workshops tailored to the group. Workshops took place over 6–8 weeks and were 1.5–2 hours long.
We focused on imagination and creativity rather than word count, spelling or grammar (those things were important but editing came later!). Participants didn’t need any experience with creative writing to take part – everyone was able to participate, no matter their confidence level.
Each pairing included three opportunities for the groups to get together. Each group visited the other in their own space, plus a third meet-up in another local venue.
Each pairing decided together how they would collaborate, choosing which styles of writing they wanted to explore (e.g. stories, scripts, songs, poetry) and how they wanted to showcase their work (e.g. in a print publication, a podcast or a performance).
Our first collaboration – Activate Space in Cork, Sense Northern Ireland in Belfast, and Youth Advocate Programme in Dublin
Activate Space is a Youth Theatre here at Graffiti for young people from Cork City aged between 14 and 18 years old. The group meets weekly to devise theatre, create stories, and to play together.
Sense Northern Ireland, the group from Belfast, works with young people with sensory impairments and complex communication needs. Their group brought incredible imagination, humour, and a unique storytelling perspective, enriching the cross-border collaboration.
The Dublin group consisted of young people supported by Youth Advocate Programme who often face challenges in education and community participation. They brought remarkable resilience, honesty and creativity to every session, shaping powerful and expressive work.
So what did we get up to?
After Graffiti’s initial shared session with Sense Northern Ireland and the Youth Advocate Programme, Activate Space took inspiration from the folktale told on the day, responding to the magical and spooky elements of the story.
Activate Space is a group of young people who create by doing. They spent time generating ideas through physical theatre, and improvisation. Then created a short story board of their main ideas. With the ideas set they designated roles for improvisation and before long each scenes took on a life of their own.
They created an original tale with magic wishing wells, romance, marriage, a villainous murderer and a trusted pet dog to help them on their way! This piece became the play Love and Murder that they performed in Fighting Words Dublin for the Dublin and Northern Ireland group. It was extremely well received. And has now been published in Creative Connections Anthology.
Whether it’s in projects such as Creative Connections, sing-a-longs on trains and buses to Dublin or here every week in the Graffiti Studio, Activate Space continues to educate us all on the pure joy that comes from uninhibited creativity and following the magic.
Our second collaboration – The Kabin Studio in Cork, New Lodge Arts in Northern Ireland, and Youthreach North Great George’s Street in Dublin
When seeking a second committed and dynamic group to work with we first approached the Kabin Studio. From early talks with the team leaders and young people it was clear that the Kabin Studios had the interest and the passion for writing, experimenting and play to make this a great fit. The young people consistently brought creativity and a generous spirit of collaboration from the very first session until their final rap at the Creative Connections Celebration day. The focus of the work during the project was to give the young people multiple ways into writing, with a particular emphasis on developing scripts over time. Their final piece, The KIll Switch, grew out of their shared session with New Lodge Arts (N.I) and Youthreach North Great George’s Street (Dublin). It was then shaped collectively by the group, with a final polish added by Anton Byrne. The result is a testament to their collaborative brilliance.
It was inspiring to watch them take creative risks week after week, and to see their generosity in supporting and encouraging other groups during the meet ups. Their enthusiasm was so infectious. Graffiti is looking to create opportunities to work with these talented young people at the Kabin Studio again.
Final Celebrations and Publication Launch
In October 2025, the groups involved came together for one final time to celebrate their work on the project and to mark the publication launch. It was an incredible afternoon, with the young people sharing their work and a live musical performance from The Kabin Studio. The Director of Fighting Words, Colm Ó Cuanacháin, spoke about the project, followed by a fantastic speech from Kate Delaney from Creative Ireland.
Towards the end of the afternoon, Roddy Doyle launched the Creative Connections book. Everyone left on a real high, with a strong sense that we will see many of these brilliant young people again very soon.
