130+ IRISH LANGUAGE AND GAELTACHT ORGANISATIONS SUPPORT AN PLEAN FÁIS AS AMBITIOUS NEW VISION FOR THE IRISH LANGUAGE IS LAUNCHED IN MANSION HOUSE, DUBLIN
The Irish Language and Gaeltacht Investment Plean 2024-2029, An Plean Fáis, will be launched tomorrow, Wednesday 20th September at 12pm in the Mansion House, Dublin. Teachtaí Dála and/or Senators from almost all political parties will be present at the launch as the key investment interventions and actions in An Plean Fáis are officially launched to the public. Attendees will also hear brief addresses from those political representatives. Over 130 Irish language and Gaeltacht groups and organisations have officially backed An Plean Fáis, many of whom will be attending the launch.
“The Plean Fáis sets out the way ahead regarding strengthening funding and investment in the Irish language from now to 2029. The levels of funding requested in the plan would see the creation of over 9,000 jobs (especially in the Gaeltacht), and would lead to increased provision of housing for Gaeltacht communities in their local areas, whilst also supporting local groups implement their Irish language plans effectively and providing thousands of scholarships to young people who would not have the money to attend summer courses in the Gaeltacht. “The baseline of funding provided to Irish language and Gaeltacht schemes and projects through recent decades has been consistently low, around 0.17% of State expenditure, which has left huge gaps in support provisions for the language across the county. The ask here is straightforward, with more funding, we can do more to support the language. We believe that with ambitious investment we can make long lasting and effective interventions in language promotion and protection, creating more and more opportunities for people to use, access and learn the language, and to ensure equality for our Gaeltacht communities. Increasing State expenditure from 0.17% to 0.4% through the life-span of this Investment Plan will be a huge step forward. Those decisions will ultimately be for our political parties. They will have to ensure the funding required to successfully implement this Plan is made available and that new funding is directed towards the priorities set out within the plan. We will make the case for that additional funding, for our vision for the future, to those political parties today.”
“This Investment Plan sets out our needs and requirements as a language community in the years ahead. The Plan aims to tackle the lack of ambition and funding from the State for the Irish language throughout the years, and will be a tool to secure a more equitable future for the Irish Language and the Gaeltacht. When the Language Planning Process first began, local steering committees were asked to develop comprehensive and ambitious language plans and to provide costings for effective implementation of those plans. Whilst most plans estimated a requirement of €300-€400,000+ in annual funding, the State decided to provide each language plan with €100-€150,000. This meant that many of the research-based interventions which were corner-stones of the work, were removed or rendered non-priorities due to a lack of money. This Investment Plan seeks to rectify that disinvestment in our language plans, recommending an additional €1.6m spend in 2024 across the 26 language planning areas to increase their local provision, increase their teams and their support for local families and young people, all of which are essential components in the work we are trying to do and will ensure that no one is undergoing this work alone.”
For further information & to download a copy of An Plean Fáis: cnag.ie/plan.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Conradh na Gaeilge is the democratic forum for the Irish-speaking community. The Conradh has over 200 branches and numerous individual members registered around the world, members that work hard to promote the use of Irish in their own areas. Conradh na Gaeilge’s main aim is to promote the use of Irish as the standard language in Ireland. Conradh na Gaeilge was established by Douglas Hyde, Eoin Mac Néill, and their colleagues on the 31st of July 1893.
The organisation runs Irish-language courses; advocates for the language rights of Irish-speakers; raises awareness about the language; hosts the international Irish-language festival Seachtain na Gaeilge; manages the Irish-language information hub PEIG.ie and the Irish-language bookshop An Siopa Leabhar; supports Raidió Rí-Rá; and much more.
