Following the announcement in September that U2 will gift €2m from the proceeds of its Dublin and Belfast concerts to Music Generation, it has been announced that The Ireland Funds will add a further €1m.

The philanthropic network founded in the US was, along with U2, one of the original funders of the music education programme, which is now in 12 areas, employs 330 people and reaches 26,000 children.

The Edge commented,

Five years in, Music Generation is continuing to grow. Thanks to The Ireland Funds for adding €1m to the €2m from our Irish shows, it’ll bring us closer to achieving our ambition for every child and young person in Ireland to have access to music tuition.

The additional €3m brings to €10m the amount gifted to Music Generation since 2010.

Efforts are set to continue to raise additional support for the scheme. Kieran McLoughlin, President & CEO of the Ireland Funds commented,

The Ireland Funds is delighted to be supporting this flagship initiative and, together with U2, will also seek to raise additional support as part of our commitment to unlocking the musical talents of the next generation.

In 2013, the Government announced that it was also committing long-term funding to the scheme from 2014, and expected to equal the philanthropic funding (then €7m) by 2016.

For more on Music Generation, visit www.musicgeneration.ie