Irish language group seeks urgent meeting with Catherine Martin

Irish language group Conradh na Gaeilge has urged the Government to “show ambition” and fund an investment plan for the Gaeltacht “without further delay”.

Julian de Spáinn, general secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge, is seeking an “urgent meeting” with Minister for Culture, Arts, and the Gaeltacht Catherine Martin to discuss what he described as a “disappointing allocation” in Budget 2024.

It was announced on Tuesday that the Irish language sector would receive an additional €4.2 million in State funding in 2024, an increase of 4 per cent on the 2023 allocation. This represents an increase from €95.9 million due to be spent this year to €100.1 million for 2024.

Speaking in Government Buildings the day after the budget, Ms Martin defended her record and said spending on the Irish language sector has increased substantially during her time as Minister.

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“I would point to my absolute commitment to the Gaeltacht. Just look at the figures since I came into office,” Ms Martin said. “The budget has gone from €78 million to €100 million since I became Minister,” she said.

“I would also point to TG4 and the recent launch of Cuala4 and indeed that budget has gone up by €20 million since I became Minister.”

Pointing out that 60 per cent of the Irish language and Gaeltacht budget for 2024 will be allocated to the Gaeltacht, Ms Martin said: “This was a tough budget and I did what I could for the Gaeltacht.”

Irish language groups contend that State funding for the Irish language has been historically low when compared with other sectors.

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“It is clear to us from the small allocation to the language and the Gaeltacht in Budget 2024 that the Government has not taken on board what the Irish language and Gaeltacht community are calling for,” Mr de Spáinn said.

He said a “game changer” was required in light of official metrics that show a reduction in those using Irish daily in the Gaeltacht.

Over 130 Gaeltacht, community and language groups endorsed an investment plan proposed by Conradh na Gaeilge seeking an increase in State spending on the Irish language from under 0.2 per cent to 0.4 per cent of annual expenditure over five years.

Mr de Spáinn said more investment is required urgently to improve access to services, resources and community activities in Irish and to help ensure the sustainability of linguistic communities in the Gaeltacht.

Outlining details of the Budget 2024 allocation, Ms Martin said increased funding of €500,000 will be made available to support the implementation of the Official Languages Act.

Funding of €500,000 will be provided to enable young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to experience Gaeltacht summer college courses, and an additional €1.1 million will be provided to Údarás na Gaeltachta.

She also committed to supporting a new scheme to improve Irish language skills among teachers and early years educators and investment in youth services in Gaeltacht areas.

It was also announced during Wednesday’s press conference that an additional €4.8 million in funding will be allocated to TG4. The increased funding will bring the station’s total budget to €57 million for 2024, but falls significantly short of the additional €10 million sought by the station ahead of Budget 2024.

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Announcing the increase, Minister Martin said: “TG4 has been allocated increased support again this year to help deliver on their ambitious strategy. This brings TG4′s total funding to €57 million, a total increase of almost €20 million since I began my term.”

Alan Esslemont, director general of TG4, welcomed the allocation but pointed out that funding is “far behind” other minority broadcasters.

“TG4 is grateful to Minister Catherine Martin for the additional funding for 2024, noting however that it is less than the additional allocation for 2023 and that our funding remains far behind other minority language broadcasters like S4C and EITB,” he said.

“At a time when we are engaged with independent producers across Ireland, developing a wide variety of Irish language content, we will have to take time to work out the full implications of Budget 2024 for TG4.”