Language body stresses need for Irish in primary teaching

Foras na Gaeilge, the new North-South body for the Irish language, has ruled out any change to the compulsory Irish requirement for primary school teachers.

Any tampering with the regulation would be a retrograde step and would seriously damage the work done over the years in providing opportunities for young people to learn the language, Ms Maighread Ui Mhairtin, chairwoman of Foras na Gaeilge, said.

She was speaking after the body's first board meeting in Spiddal, Co Galway, yesterday.

The language test was not the main obstacle to resolving the current primary school staffing crisis, and should not be drawn into an argument over pay and conditions in the teaching sector, Ms Ui Mhairtin added.

Foras na Gaeilge, which is the Irish language section of Foras na Teanga, intends to meet both education ministers, North and South, on the issue and aims to make resources available to tap into the goodwill among teachers who wish to learn Irish, she said.

The 16-member board has announced a £2 million spending initiative to promote Irish, comprising grantaid to specific projects, support for two publications and an advertising campaign on radio and television. The existing publication contract with the weekly, Foinse, is to be continued for another four years, with a recommendation that the annual grant of £182,000 be increased substantially.

The board has also decided in principle to increase the annual grant paid to La, the Irish language newspaper based in Belfast.

This will assist the development of the newspaper and an electronic daily news service.

It has also considered what it describes as a "long list" of applicants seeking assistance, and has approved grant-aid to the value of £470,000 for projects south of the Border, and £300,000 sterling for projects in the North.

A detailed list of approvals is to be made at a later date. The advertising campaign will cost about £300,000, and will be run from mid-December.

Asked about a recent move by a residents' group in Carraroe to set an Irish language test for local authority housing applicants, Ms Ui Mhairt in said her personal view was that this would only impede development of the language.

"Our job is to do everything to promote love of the language, and access to it," she said.

Foras na Gaeilge replaces Bord na Gaeilge under the Belfast Agreement, and has taken over responsibility for the publishing company, An Gum.

It has a budget of about £7.5 million this year, and works with the Board of Ulster-Scotch, chaired by Lord Laird of Artigarvan, on Foras na Teanga.