Funding for the Irish language

Financial support for the main Irish language and educational organisations was considered in detail at a special two-day meeting of the board of Foras na Gaeilge, the cross-border Irish language promotional body, that took place in Belfast in December.

At the conclusion of the board’s deliberations, Foras na Gaeilge announced that it will grant over €7.7 million in financial support for 2006 to the 17 organisations that receive core funding on an annual basis from the all-island body. Foras said it was a matter of some satisfaction that it had been possible on this occasion to give significant increases in funding to the organisations over and above the levels granted at this time last year.

Commenting at the conclusion of today’s board meeting, Foras na Gaeilge chairperson, Maighréad Uí Mháirtín, said:

2005 proved to be a headline year for the Irish language right across the island, what with the enactment of the Official Languages Act, the winning of working language status for Irish at EU level, and the completion of important projects such as the Irish versions of Microsoft’s Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003.

Foras na Gaeilge chief executive, Seosamh Mac Donncha added: “Today we are pleased to announce the results of our assessment of applications for funding for next year. It is manifest from the many reports and plans submitted that much has been achieved by the organisations over the past year and that they have ambitions to achieve even more in 2006. I am confident that in planning the future development of the use of Irish together we will increase our cooperation and partnership.”

www.forasnagaeilge.ie