Strollers Network is delighted to announce Ultan Pringle as the recipient of the PROPEL Programme Award 2025

Following an open call application process the Strollers Network is delighted to announce Ultan Pringle as the recipient of the PROPEL Programme Award 2025.

PROPEL is a three year-long artist development and mentorship programme designed and produced by the Strollers Network, a partnership of ten arts centres from across Ireland. The aim of the programme is to strengthen the ecology of the Irish theatre sector by supporting the development of new work by independent theatre makers and to support the sustainable development of artistic practice through a structured mentorship and training programme designed and delivered in consultation with the artist or company.

The programme offers a €35,000 bursary over 3 years to support the research and development of new work, and to cover the cost of ongoing professional development through training and mentorship. The award also gives access to development and rehearsal spaces in ten Arts Centres across the country, support and mentorship from a panel of experts in producing, fundraising, technical production, dramaturgy, publishing, marketing, finance, cultural entrepreneurship, audience development and engagement, and strategic business development and cultural business management. Finally, this will give the artist an opportunity to present a work-in-progress performance as part of a major Irish festival.

ABOUT Ultan:

Ultan Pringle is an actor and writer from Donegal. He is a graduate with first class honours of Trinity College Dublin. He is a founding member of LemonSoap Productions with whom he has written and acted in various productions including Marmalade Row, It Is Good We Are Dreaming, Piglet and the audio series Fruit starring Aidan Gillen, Kathy Kiera Clarke, Linda Martin, PJ Kirby, Marion O’Dwyer and Michael Fry. His five star hit play Boyfriends, funded by The Arts Council Of Ireland, ran for three weeks in June and July 2024 and will tour to eight venues around Ireland in late 2025. His audio drama Pistachio starred three time Oscar nominee and Hollywood legend Piper Laurie. He wrote the script for and directed the middle ages immaculate conception musical Beards by HK Ní Shiordáin at The New Theatre in 2024. He wrote a piece for the 2024 24Hour Plays at the Abbey Theatre and was longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize in 2022.

Ultan’s work as an actor includes Falling For The Life Of Alex Whelan on RTÉ Two and for Dublin Fringe Festival, The Julius Caesar Variety Show by Joy Nesbitt. Ultan is the current Artist in Residence at An Grianán Theatre and he was named as One To Watch for 2025 by the Irish Times.

The PROPEL Award will support Ultan and LemonSoap Productions across the next three years to enact a slate of ambitious development work on new plays and musicals.

Speaking about the PROPEL Award, Ultan said:
“The PROPEL Award at this time feels like a lifeline. A chance to realise a development slate, to bring ambitious collaborators together and to be afforded to dream, create and evolve alongside one another. I couldn’t be more chuffed and over the moon and deeply indebted to the Strollers Network. I can’t wait to work on a new soap opera farce, a musical about a baby growing in the womb, a horror drama about academia and a play about an older lady who begins to lose her mind in a bingo hall!”