Animation funding in Ireland

Animation in Ireland is financed through a small number of routes that usually work together: a Screen Ireland (Fís Éireann) loan, a broadcaster commitment, CnaM Sound & Vision funding on the back of that commitment, the Section 481 — the Irish scripted tax credit tax credit, and European co-production partners found at the Cartoon events (Cartoon Forum and the Cartoon events).

Screen Ireland

Screen Ireland runs separate animation streams for television:

Applicants are Irish independent production companies with a registered office and staff in the Republic of Ireland. Television production needs broadcaster support, and agreements with the writer, director and principal animator in place.

Animated features have no separate stream: they apply to the general feature schemes (Irish Feature Film Development, Fiction: Irish Production, Creative Co-Production), which name animation as eligible.

Sound & Vision and the broadcasters

CnaM Sound & Vision funds programmes for Irish free-to-air broadcast, and the Broadcasting Act names animation among the eligible genres. A broadcaster letter is generally required at application. Round 62, an open round, opens on 15 October 2026 and closes at noon on 26 November 2026, with decisions by late March 2027.

• TG4 — Teilifís na Gaeilge / Cúla4 — before each round TG4 runs a pre-commissioning call. For Round 62, Cúla4 proposals (live action, animation or mixed, for under-5s, ages 5–7 and ages 8–12) were due at 12:00 on 14 October 2026; TG4 contributes at most 15% of the total budget.
• RTÉ — Raidió Teilifís Éireann Young People's — takes animation pitches for ages 7–12 at any time through eCommissioning, with no dated round; funding is expected through co-production.

In Togra

The funder rounds page carries each of these as a seed pack (Screen Ireland's packs and Irish animation commissioning), so the deadlines appear in the funder pipeline and the reminders bell. For an animation project, S481 counts the art director, production designer and composer as key creative roles, and its commencement is the first animation drawing or model movement.