'Crisis' meeting on cross border Irish language funding

People working to promote the Irish language on both sides of the border will gather in Dublin for what they have described as a “crisis assembly” to discuss a funding cut for which they are blaming the DUP at Stormont.

It follows an announcement by Foras na Gaeilge that it will have to make more that €800,000 of cuts to schemes that support the promotion of the language across the island.

It means some projects will be cut completely and others will have funding reduced.

Foras na Gaeilge was set up under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement and distributes cash to Irish language groups across Ireland by funding schemes to which they can apply for money.

It includes strategic funding to promote the language on an area basis as well as smaller pots of money to help run events and campaigns.

Among the high-profile projects is the ‘Creidim Ionat’ campaign which is run in the lead up to Seachtáin na Gaeilge and encourages people to buddy up with a fluent speaker to improve their Irish.

Other schemes support businesses which want to use Irish language signage. There are projects to help fund arts events, run festivals and help children to attend summer colleges.

Like other cross-border bodies, Foras na Gaeilge receives 75% of its funding from the Irish Government and 25% of its cash from the Northern Ireland Executive.

It has been under financial pressure for years, with no significant uplift in its budget and rising costs linked to staffing.

It means that while the Foras budget this year is €17.7m, €16.9m of that has already been committed.

A new funding formula - which it was hoped would put it and other cross border bodies on a firmer financial footing - has been agreed by the finance departments in Dublin and Belfast.

It would see additional money being made available, outside the core funding provided by governments north and south.

But the plan needs sign-off in both jurisdictions and so far, there has been no agreement on its implementation at Stormont.

It is understood there have been five attempts to get the proposal on the agenda for approval by the Stormont Executive since the autumn.

So far all of them have been unsuccessful.

DUP Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly was asked about that delay in the assembly last week.

She said she did not support any proposal that would see a change in the respective percentages provided by both jurisdictions.

"There is a careful balance in all those things, and the balance in the contribution, north and south, to those bodies is to ensure that the work that happens in those bodies is balanced in their north/south aspects.

"I understand that the former finance minister was, perhaps, proposing to break that and to facilitate the South increasing its contribution without its being linked to Northern Ireland’s contribution.

“That is not something that I am in agreement with, and, therefore, there is simply not agreement on that proposal at this stage,” Ms Little-Pengelly said.

Irish language activists have accused the DUP of operating a “32 county veto” on the promotion of the Irish language.

“We don’t think that’s good enough,” said Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh of Conradh na Gaeilge.

“We think there are huge questions for the DUP, even bigger questions for their partners in government Sinn Féin and also for the senior partner in that all-island funding arrangement, the Irish Government.”

He said the meeting in Dublin tomorrow would bring people working in the Irish language sector together to find ways to lobby the authorities in Dublin and Belfast.

He claimed Foras na Gaeilge was “fundamentally flawed” as a funding mechanism for the Irish language.

The chair of Foras na Gaeilge told BBC Radio Ulster that they had applied the cuts in a way that sought to protect jobs.

An tOllamh Regina Uí Chollatáin said she hoped it would be a temporary measure.

“It is certainly an issue that is being addressed, it’s one that is being looked at and we would be hopeful because there is very good will on both sides.”

The “crisis assembly” to discuss the funding cuts will take place in the Unite building on Middle Abbey Street.

‘This isn’t just a €800,000 problem’ - Conradh na Gaeilge

Conradh na Gaeilge’s Ard-Rúnaí Julian de Spáinn said the funding structure for Foras na Gaeilge is “broken”.

Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr de Spáinn said: "This isn’t just a problem of €800,000. This is a long-time coming problem that we’ve seen and we’ve tried to get both governments north and south to address over the last ten years.

"Essentially what’s happened now is Foras na Gaeilge has a shortfall and they have to put in some cuts this year.

"But what’s happened over the last 20 years is Foras na Gaeilge has never been funded significantly, ever.

"So, it’s 20 years of pretty much the same amount of money that they had 20 years ago that they have to allocate at the moment and take into account that everything costs more obviously, 20 years later.

“Not only that, but if they had been funded at the same rate that they increased the Arts Council in the south, for example, they would be on €50 million at this stage and they’re on €17 million.”

He said the cuts will affect community groups in particular and some will not be able to pay their rent.