The administration has declared a funding bundle worth €20m, meant to sustain a fresh national plan for arts focused on the Irish dialect, and for preserving the Irish language within the community. Known as Straitéis d’Ealaíona Teangabhunaithe na Gaeilge, this strategy will be functional between 2024 and 2027, aiming to bolster and popularise arts centred on the Irish language. The strategy is also intended to assimilate these into the educational structure, covering the early learning stages.
Arts centred on the Irish language, also known as na healaíona teangabhunaithe, will receive acknowledgment as sectors immensely crucial to the community. They include drámaíocht or drama, scéalaíocht or storytelling, amhránaíocht or singing, agallamh beirte or verse dialogue, lúibíní or comic dialogue sung in verses, and an fhilíocht labhartha or spoken verse.
To initiate the plan’s execution, the strategy allocates nearly €10m. The lion’s share of the funding, amounting to €5.3m divided over four years, will assist An Taibhdhearc, the national Irish-language theatre based in Galway that has had to rely on outsourcing in recent years due to financial limitations.
Oireachtas na Gaeilge, the national entity that organises the country’s leading annual Irish-medium arts and music festival, Oireachtas na Samhna, will reap €4.085m to advance and market arts centred on the Irish language.
Patrick O’Donovan, the Minister for State at the Department of the Gaeltacht, announced from An Taibhdhearc that this funding is the most substantial package ever committed for the Irish language and the Gaeltacht throughout the current administration’s tenure. He expressed confidence in the fund’s potential to inspire the growth of Irish language drama and fortify the position of An Taibhdhearc as the national Irish-language theatre and as a developmental center for Irish language drama.
Siobhán Nic Fhlannchadha, Chair of An Taibhdhearc’s board of directors, enthusiastically greeted the recent declaration of funding approval. She perceives this financial support as an acknowledgment of An Taibhdhearc’s significance and role as a national Irish-language theatre. An in-depth collaboration with the Department of the Gaeltacht was instrumental in planning and determining the realistic €5.3m sum, which reflects a well-considered plan aimed at meeting the 2025-2027 strategy goals.
The immediate next step is recruiting a skilled management duo, composed of a CEO and an artistic director, a move not previously seen at An Taibhdhearc due to prior budget limitations. They will guide a skilled team focusing on technological aspects, authorship, and promotion, all key facets of theatre operation.
Public finance for Irish language arts has taken the brunt of criticism from supporters who are pushing for remedial actions to reconcile age-old inequality in fund distribution.
The recently released Tuarascáil ar Ealaíona Teangabhunaithe na Gaeilge report, a collaboration between Mary Immaculate College and the University of Limerick, has shaped the new arts strategy. The research underscored that the Irish language arts sector is highly diversified yet reliant on a hodgepodge of funding sources, such as different governmental departments and cross-border organisations like Foras na Gaeilge, whose financial backing has been significantly limited brought about by the recent political deadlock.
The study underscored the acute and continued requirement for cooperation and dialogue amongst all stakeholders and called for strategic, long-term planning at all echelons in the sector.
On Thursday, it was announced that several organisations will be the recipients of funding allocations. Tuismitheoirí na Gaeltachta, a community organisation committed to assisting Gaeltacht families in teaching their offspring in the Irish language, has been allocated €5.5m. Comhar Naíonraí na Gaeltachta, a body offering early childhood services in the Irish language within Gaeltacht regions, is set to receive €3.7m. The balance of the financial provision, estimated at €1.9m, has been set aside to enhance and stimulate Irish language usage in enterprises operating within Gaeltacht locales.
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