The Minister of State for the Gaeltacht Patrick O'Donovan T.D. has welcomed additional investment to the value of €910,000 which has been approved for projects in the Irish and Ulster-Scots language sectors. This funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media will support dictionary, publishing, culture and music projects, developing new resources and promoting both languages.
Minister of State O’Donovan said:
"I am very happy that my Department has provided this funding to the North-South language agencies, Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency, to support various Irish and Ulster-Scots language and cultural projects across the island.
"This investment will give additional support to the Irish publishing and writing sector in order to tackle the challenges currently facing the sector and will ensure that archival and dictionary facilities are developed and available to the Irish-speaking community.
"It is important to recognise the Ulster-Scots heritage in the border counties and this support will help to develop new initiatives to preserve and expand that heritage."
The projects to be funded are:
Foras na Gaeilge: €600,000 will be made available to Foras na Gaeilge to invest in the publishing and dictionary sectors. €300,000 of this funding will go towards writers and publishers of Irish books through schemes administered under Clár na Leabhar Gaeilge. In addition, this investment will help to modernise the Áisineacht Dálieacháin Leabhar (ÁIS) distribution system and to develop a marketing strategy for the sector.
Another €300,000 will go towards the organisation's dictionary projects to cover costs relating to the basic dictionary work and development of current resources, together with awareness raising and publicity for the projects.
The Ulster-Scots Agency: Funding of €150,000 has been approved for the Ulster-Scots Agency to develop educational initiatives and support a pilot programme for marching bands. An educational programme focused on Ulster-Scots language and culture is being developed, which will give transition year students the opportunity to learn about Ulster-Scots identity - the language, heritage, culture and traditions associated with it.
Part of the funding will be made available for a pilot programme for marching bands in the border counties, to support equipment needs in the sector. The programme will help to revive these bands and preserve the tradition.
Oireachtas na Samhna: €80,000 has been approved for Oireachtas na Samhna to begin the development of archive facilities in partnership with Fiontar agus Scoil na Gaeilge, Dublin City University. Oireachtas na Samhna has put together an archive of material including the work of writers, singers, musicians, dancers, poets, folklorists, actors and artists of all contemporary disciplines. This funding will support An tOireachtas to develop a complete programme to create a new digital archive which will be available online in the coming years.
Comhar: Once-off funding of €80,000 has been approved for the magazine, Comhar, to support the development of Irish-medium writing and literature through the publication and distribution of the monthly magazine. This funding will enable the magazine to provide an important platform for Irish language writers to present their work to the public, in print and online.
ENDS