Sir, – Your readers may be interested to know that Foras na Gaeilge, the North-South body which grew out of the Good Friday Agreement, with all the obligations which that entails, has decided to cut the funding for the 90-year-old Irish language magazine An tUltach . An tUltach has provided a platform for the best of Ulster Irish language writers for almost a century now – not least the Pulitzer prize-winning Paul Muldoon, while he was a schoolboy at St Patrick's College, Armagh.
This cut comes into effect at the end of June, dissecting our 90th year in half and rendering it almost impossible to continue. Other Irish language publications unfortunately face a similar fate. The case of An tUltach stands out as being a particularly cruel and shortsighted decision for the following reasons:
Celebration plans for our 90th year were well advanced. Huge progress had been made in recent years in eradicating debt, improving circulation, enhancing design and broadening content, together with achieving an increased presence on social media and online. Additional funding had been secured from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
When we contacted Paul Muldoon at Princeton about the funding cut, he wrote the following in response.
"I've no hesitation in saying that An tUltach has been a mainstay of the intellectual life of Ireland for as long as I can remember. My own first poems, which happened to be in Irish, were published there in 1968. It was a thrilling moment! I strongly encourage Foras na Gaeilge to continue to support what has become an institution – not that An tUltach has ever succumbed to the greyness we might associate with that term. This is a magazine that plays a vigorous and vital role in helping Ireland understand itself."
Needless to say we have met and discussed this matter in detail with Foras but so far to no avail. Is mise le meas,
RÉAMONN Ó CIARÁIN,
Cathaoirleach,
An tUltach
Ãth an Mhuilinn
Co Ard Mhacha