New Irish-funding plan criticised

A new funding mechanism being introduced by Foras na Gaeilge has been strongly criticised by the 19 Irish language promotion organisations that currently receive their core funding from the body.

The current system of grant-in-aid funding was inherited by the Foras from the Department of the Gaeltacht over 10 years ago.

Foras na Gaeilge, a North/South implementation body set up under the Belfast Agreement, has a role in advising the administrations North and South in matters relating to the Irish language. It also channels state funding to Irish language organisations throughout the island of Ireland.

Following concerns in recent years over increased administration costs at the core-funded organisations, the Foras has been trying to replace the grant-in-aid system with a system of competitive tendering for funding.

Under the new system all the current core-funding would cease and the organisations, all of which are not-for-profit, would have to compete on a three-yearly basis in a quasi-market for funds to implement one of eight schemes planned by the Foras.

The affected organisations say this will result in a commercialisation of a sector which is currently community-based and that they will not be in a position to survive without State funding.

Conradh na Gaeilge general secretary Julian de Spáinn said the new approach would ensure that instead of working together, Irish language organisations would now be set in competition against each other.

Mr de Spáinn believes it could result in the destruction of the Irish language movement.

Under the proposed funding method all strategy would be decided by the Foras and the role of the organisations would be to achieve objectives and targets set by the Foras. In a consultation document Foras na Gaeilge says competitive tendering for funding will "ensure better value for money".

Mr de Spáinn said the organisations were "more than happy" to sit down with the Foras and Government departments to see how they could work together to achieve greater effectiveness.

However he warned that the work and services currently offered by grassroots Irish language organisations would come under threat if the new funding system is implemented.

The 19 organisations which are affected by the change, including Conradh na Gaeilge, said in a statement this week that the introduction of the new funding model will have a "detrimental and irreversible effect" on the Irish language.

"Under the new proposals, Foras na Gaeilge would see organisations dismiss all staff whose positions are funded by Foras na Gaeilge", the statement said.

"Overnight, years of experience and expertise would be lost. A contract worker could never gain as much experience and expertise. On top of this, the Irish language would no longer be seen as a viable career choice", it warned.

The organisations are seeking to engage with Foras na Gaeilge to come up with a new work model which they say would benefit the language throughout the island and encourage the use of Irish "on an agreed and planned basis."

Mr de Spáinn called on the Government to reverse the decision to change the funding mechanism and instead to hold a consultation process which is "acceptable to everyone".

"Like any government decision, it can be reversed. The current Ministers were not in place when the decision was taken. They can change the decision and set-up an inclusive consultation process to address the issue."

SDLP spokesman for the Irish language Dominic Bradley called yesterday on both sides to negotiate. He said he had spoken to both sides and the dispute was an issue “of concern for the cause of Irish on the island of Ireland”.

He said there was room for compromise as considerable savings could be achieved by the organisations in question and that these options should be explored further.

A spokesman for Foras na Gaeilge said the body was happy to sit down with the organisations “at any time”.

Mr Breandán McCraith said the aim of the new system was to ensure that Irish language services were provided to the public.

He said the existing system was not sustainable due to costs associated with salaries.

He said the Foras had no choice but to change the funding mechanism following a direction by the North-South Ministerial Council “and that is why we are taking this route”.

A 12-week consultation process is currently underway which allows organisations and the public to make submissions on individual schemes promoted by Foras na Gaeilge.