A new national programme to establish multicultural singing groups in towns nationwide will be rolled out by the Family Resource Centre National Forum (FRCNF) across Ireland. The initiative – ‘One Town One Voice’ – has a specific focus on bringing members of the community together, whether they are long-time residents or new to the community.

The initiative started in Cork in 2022, and was founded by social entrepreneur Graham Clifford. Now, through the support of the FRCNF, One Town One Voice will be rolled out locally through Family Resource Centres across the country.

Each singing group will be assisted with content and direction by a national musical lead. Over the coming weeks, a national coordinator for the programme will be appointed to lead the expansion of the initiative.

Commenting today, Fergal Landy, CEO of the FRCNF said: “There is an obvious alignment between the values of Family Resource Centres in respect of human rights and social inclusion and the One Town One Voice initiative. We are extremely excited to be involved and to build on the very successful work undertaken to date. Given the challenges Irish society is currently experiencing, we are hopeful that Government will get behind us on this initiative by providing the adequate, sustainable funding required to ensure existing and new One Town One Voice singing groups can be supported.”

Speaking about the success of One Town One Voice to date, founder of the initiative Graham Clifford said: “We could see that this concept works to bring people together, regardless of nationality, culture, religion, legal status, gender or sexual orientation. It’s a group for all and there is nothing quite like communal singing to encourage that sense of oneness, mutual respect and belonging. Plus, it’s great fun and you don’t have to be a super singer to be part of it!

“We want everyone to feel comfortable in our community singing groups and that includes those who are new to Ireland for whom English might still be difficult. Our musical lead Lisa Dunphy has developed ways in which everyone can contribute, and we will help groups with content and methods to work with all.”

The inspiration for the One Town One Voice concept came from the successful Fermoy International Choir set up in the North Cork town in 2019. Over the last five years the Fermoy International choir has welcomed over 400-members from up to 50 countries, including France, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Ukraine and Germany.