Ed Sheeran Foundation Expands to Island of Ireland with Cross-Border Youth Music Initiative
The Ed Sheeran Foundation has formally expanded its operations to the island of Ireland, announcing the launch of North South Sounds 2026, a cross-border youth music programme that will connect 150 young people from Cork and Belfast through collaborative songwriting, performance, and community-building over six months.
Background
The Ed Sheeran Foundation was established in England in January 2025 with a mission to advocate for music education and provide grants to grassroots organisations working with young people. Since its inception, the foundation has supported numerous youth-focused music initiatives across the United Kingdom, successfully campaigning for reforms to music curricula and improved access to music in public libraries.
Sheeran, who has family roots in Belfast, has long spoken about the transformative power of music education, citing his own school music teachers as a primary inspiration for his career. The foundation's expansion to Ireland reflects both his personal connection to the island and a recognition that grassroots music education in Ireland — while strong in many respects — faces significant funding pressures, particularly in disadvantaged communities.
The decision to launch the Irish programme in partnership with Music Generation Cork City and the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast was deliberate. Both organisations have established track records of delivering high-quality music education to young people from diverse backgrounds, and both operate in communities where access to private music tuition is limited by economic circumstance.
Key Developments
North South Sounds 2026 will run from July to December 2026, bringing together 150 young people aged 13 to 17 from Cork and Belfast for a programme of songwriting, performance, and cross-community exchange. The initiative blends diverse musical traditions — traditional Irish, folk, hip-hop, pop, and rock — in a deliberate effort to reflect the breadth of musical culture on the island.
The programme will launch formally on 3 August 2026 at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Belfast, where 50 young musicians will perform at Belfast City Hall, showcasing collaborative pieces developed during lead-up workshops. The timing is significant: the Fleadh, which is expected to attract 800,000 visitors to Belfast, provides an extraordinary platform for young musicians from both cities to perform before a genuinely national audience.
Workshops are being led by educators and musicians including Cheylene Murphy from the band Beauty Sleep, with a focus on improvisation, songwriting, and practical industry advice. Beyond the core 150 participants, the programme includes non-residential summer camps designed to extend participation to an additional 100 young people. The foundation has confirmed that it will fund the programme in full, with no cost to participants.
Why It Matters
The expansion of the Ed Sheeran Foundation to Ireland arrives at a moment when cross-border cultural initiatives are increasingly valued as a practical expression of the Good Friday Agreement's vision of an island of Ireland that shares cultural life as well as political structures. Unlike many cross-border programmes, which tend to focus on sport or civic engagement, North South Sounds 2026 places music — and specifically collaborative music-making — at the centre of the exchange.
Research consistently shows that participation in structured music programmes improves educational outcomes, reduces antisocial behaviour, and builds social confidence among young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Cork and Belfast communities targeted by this initiative both contain areas of significant deprivation, and the foundation's decision to focus its Irish debut on these cities rather than on more affluent urban centres is a meaningful statement of intent.
The involvement of the Oh Yeah Centre in Belfast is particularly noteworthy. The centre, which is based in the Cathedral Quarter, has been a cornerstone of Belfast's music scene for over a decade, nurturing artists from Snow Patrol to Ash and providing rehearsal, recording, and mentoring facilities to emerging musicians across Northern Ireland.
Local Impact
In Belfast, the programme will be delivered through the Oh Yeah Centre's existing network of young musicians, with participants drawn from across the city including areas such as North Belfast, West Belfast, and East Belfast. In Cork, Music Generation Cork City will coordinate participation through its established network of schools and community music hubs across the city's northside and southside. Both organisations have emphasised that the programme is designed to be genuinely accessible, with transport and equipment provided to participants who need it. The launch at the Fleadh will give participants their first experience of performing before a large public audience — an opportunity that many would not otherwise have.
What's Next
Following the Fleadh launch on 3 August, the programme will move into its core workshop phase, with participants from Cork and Belfast meeting for joint sessions in both cities over the autumn. A showcase concert is planned for December 2026, with the foundation indicating that it intends to make North South Sounds an annual programme if the 2026 edition is successful. Applications for the 2027 cohort are expected to open in early spring.
