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Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs, Joe McHugh T.D., announced today (18 November 2015) that he has sanctioned a grant of €2.7m for the Higher Education Authority to be allocated to Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge, NUI Galway, to enable them to continue providing a range of courses through Irish in their three Gaeltacht locations in Gaoth Dobhair, Carna and An Cheathrú Rua for the 2015/2016, 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 academic years.

Announcing the grant, Minister of State McHugh said: “The Acadamh greatly contributes to the educational opportunities available to the Irish language and Gaeltacht communities and it has a positive influence on the social, economic, cultural and linguistic life of those communities." Part of the Acadamh’s strategy is to gradually increase the number of Irish language modules available in its undergraduate College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies programmes and that An tAcadamh will be integrated into this college. “The emergence of innovative arrangements of this kind is important, instead of traditional provision in these areas,” the Minister said.

In addition, the Minister of State said: “The Acadamh is providing various courses that are dealing with particular requirements with regards to the Irish language in Ireland and in the European Union. Through the Diploma in Language Planning and Preservation that is being offered again this year in conjunction with Údarás na Gaeltachta, the Gaeltacht community is being empowered to take leadership of the future of language planning in the Gaeltacht under the Gaeltacht Act 2012.”