Dublin-based mural artist Josephine Hicks, known professionally as Hixxy, has created a sweeping collage mural to mark the Cairn Community Games, one of Ireland's largest and longest-running youth participation programmes. The work, roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool, was displayed at Seven Mills in Clondalkin, Dublin 22, and stands as a striking visual testament to the scale and spirit of the Games ahead of this summer's provincial finals.
Constructed from over 300 metres of brightly coloured cotton, the mural depicts two larger-than-life figures assembled from the colours, shapes, textures and equipment of the many sports, arts and cultural activities that define the Community Games. The breadth of disciplines involved - from GAA and soccer to basketball, futsal, table tennis, dance, music, singing and chess - reflects a programme that has grown far beyond traditional field sports, much as youth participation culture across Ireland and internationally continues to expand into new areas. Notably, among the many activities represented, the collage draws on imagery that spans even niche competitive disciplines, a reminder that in community sport, every pursuit finds its place, just as enthusiasts of less mainstream competitions - whether seeking field hockey betting odds or following amateur chess circuits - demonstrate that sporting passion takes countless forms. Twenty young people from Cairn Community Games in Lucan and the local Seven Mills community helped bring the artwork to life, making the process as collaborative as the event it celebrates.
Ms Hicks described the intent behind the piece with clarity. "Every element of this monumental mural tells a story of participation, connection and belonging - but the artwork doesn't just celebrate community - it is made by one," she said. That framing is deliberate. The mural is not simply decorative promotion; it is itself an act of community-making, produced collectively by the very young people the Games are designed to serve.
A Programme Built on Scale and Volunteerism
The Cairn Community Games trace their roots to 1968, when the initiative launched in Dublin with just over 620 children taking part. The figures today are of an entirely different order: an estimated 173,000 participants at community level, spread across 430 towns, supported by a network of more than 10,000 volunteers. Few youth sports and culture initiatives on the island of Ireland operate at anything close to this scale.
Cairn, the apartment developer and home builder, has sponsored the Games since 2024, providing backing for events at locations nationwide where children aged between six and 16 compete and participate at local, county and national level. The sponsorship sits within the company's broader "We're All In" campaign, which emphasises social connection as much as sporting achievement. Madeleina Loughrey-Grant, Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer at Cairn, was direct about the motivation: "We know that youth loneliness is a growing issue in Ireland, and that initiatives like Cairn Community Games play an important role in addressing it by giving young people inclusive opportunities to connect, belong and build confidence." The language of belonging, repeated across the campaign and echoed in Hicks' mural, signals that the Games are positioned as a social intervention as much as a sporting one.
Provincial Finals Set to Run Through July
With the mural unveiled and the summer season deepening, attention now turns to the provincial championship calendar. The Munster final is scheduled for Sunday, 28 June, followed by the Leinster final on Saturday, 11 July, the Ulster final on Saturday, 18 July and the Connacht final on Saturday, 25 July. The sequence of provincial deciders will draw thousands of young athletes and their families to venues across the country over a four-week period, culminating in what promises to be a significant national conclusion to the 2025 programme. For the communities involved - and the volunteers who make the Games function - these finals represent the apex of a year-round commitment to youth sport and culture in Ireland.
