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Irish language cuts 'a total failure from both governments'

Robbie Meredith
BBC News NI education and arts correspondent
Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh Dr Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh in red tshirt holding a megaphone with a crowd behind him cheering at an Irish language rally.Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh
Dr Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh has described the cuts as a "total failure"

Funding cuts by the all-Ireland Irish language agency Foras na Gaeilge represent "a total failure from both the northern and southern governments".

That is according to Dr Pádraig Ó Tiarnaigh from Conradh na Gaeilge, one of the leading Irish language organisations.

Foras na Gaeilge was founded in 1999 as a result of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. It is a cross-border body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland.

It said it has to make savings of more than €800,000 (£669,000) and that will mean funding cuts to some groups operating in Northern Ireland.

That includes Gael Linn, who run the Scoil Spreagtha scheme in primary schools.

The Cultúrlann McAdaim Ó Fiaich in Belfast, Raidió Fáilte and Conradh na Gaeilge are also likely to be affected.

BBC News NI has contacted Stormont and Irish government departments for comment on the cuts.

'Every effort' to protect projects

Seán Ó Coinn Seán Ó Coinn in a black suit, blue shirt and red checked tie, holding a tablet in an office with the Foras na Gaeilge backdrop beside a mantlepiece.Seán Ó Coinn
Seán Ó Coinn has said "every effort" will be made to protect schemes

The chief executive of Foras na Gaeilge, Seán Ó Coinn, said they would make "every effort to protect organisations providing employment, and educational schemes and projects".

"Officials will be in contact with groups and organisations regarding the decisions and guidance on the cuts next week," he said.

Foras na Gaelige report to the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC).

About a quarter of its funding is from the Executive Office and about three-quarters of its funding is from the government in the Republic of Ireland.

But BBC News NI understands that one government cannot increase funding to the organisation without the other also doing so.

'Contravention of the Good Friday Agreement'

The organisation's budget for 2024/25 is about €17m (£14m), but it has to make savings of €817,945 (£684,362).

When contacted by BBC News NI, Dr Ó Tiarnaigh from Conradh na Gaeilge said the cuts "will leave local and national groups under even more pressure amidst a long-running funding crisis amongst the Irish language community".

"Founded as part of the cross-border Good Friday Agreement bodies, Foras na Gaeilge receives less funding now than it did in 2002 and is dependent on a match-funding ratio from both the northern and southern governments," he said.

"That funding structure, and the long-running disinvestment in Foras, resulting in today's cuts, now leaves huge questions regarding the future viability of Foras na Gaeilge as a funding mechanism to deliver much needed financial support to the Irish language community."

He added that the organisation believed "there has been a total failure" from both government to ensure Foras na Gaeilge had the finances to meet "the immediate and strategic needs of an ever-growing Irish language sector, a failure which is in complete contravention of the commitments and vision set out in the Good Friday Agreement".