Maoinigh Pobal na Gaeilge Anois!

Cuir stad le ciorruithe €800,000 Fhoras na Gaeilge! [English Below]

Maoinigh Pobal na Gaeilge Anois!

Is ábhar mór buartha é an nuacht faoi Fhoras na Gaeilge agus an bhearna i mbuiséid s’acu. Déanfaidh ciorruithe sa bhreis ar €800,000 damáiste ollmhór don teanga agus don phobal, thuaidh agus theas.

Gerry Carroll: 'I mo cheantar féin, in Iarthar Bhéal Feirste, tá pobal na Gaeilge ag déanamh obair na gcapall leis an Ghaeilge a fhás agus a fhorbairt. Tá tacaíocht chuí de dhíth ar na hiarrachtaí sin, ní buillí den sórt seo a chuirfidh postanna agus tionscadail luachmhara i mbaol.'

Is toradh é an cruachás seo ar an tsamhail mhaoinithe nualiobrálach atá i bhfeidhm le fada. Ní bhfuair an Foras ach an t-aon ardú buiséid amháin ó bhí blianta na déine ann, in aineoinn riachtanais ghéara phobal na teanga.

Ó thuaidh, tá an DUP ag leanúint seanphatrúin agus iad i mbun ionsaithe seicteacha ar an Ghaeilge i gcónaí. Ní bheidh fonn ar bith orthu gníomh dearfach a dhéanamh ar son na teanga gan brú láidir ón bhonn aníos.

Ach tá ceisteanna móra ann chomh maith faoi na páirtithe sin a bhfuil in ainm a bheith báúil leis an Ghaeilge, Sinn Féin san áireamh agus an chéad aireacht acu. Foilsíodh dréachtchlár rialtais trí mhí ó shin gan trácht ná tuairisc ar an teanga ann, sampla lom d’easpa airde na mórpháirtithe ar fad uirthi sa ‘ré nua’ ó thuaidh.

Láithreach bonn, ba chóir don Fheidhmeannas i Stormont agus Rialtas na hÉireann beirt an bhearna maoinithe a líonadh. Agus ní mór dúinn uilig na ceachtanna ó 2016/17 a chuimhneamh. Is clár rialtais de chuid an Fheidhmeannais nár luaigh Acht Gaeilge a spreag na chéad chruinnithe de chuid an Dream Dearg. Is ionsaithe ón DUP an splanc a mheall na sluaite amach ar na sráideanna ina dhiaidh sin. Tá géarghá ann pilleadh ar na sráideanna arís le deireadh a chur leis ciorruithe seo, agus leis an mhaoiniú cheart a bhfuil pobal na Gaeilge ina theideal a chinntiú don todhchaí.


Fund the Irish Language Community Now!
Stop the €800,000 cuts to Foras na Gaeilge!


The news about the funding gap Foras na Gaeilge has been left with is a huge concern. Cuts of over €800,000 will cause massive damage to the language and the language community, north and south.

Gerry Carroll: 'In my own area of West Belfast the Irish language community are doing trojan work. They need proper support, not blows such as this which will endanger jobs and vital language projects.'

This crisis is the result of the neoliberal funding model which has long been in place. Foras na Gaeilge has only received one budgetary increase since the austerity years despite the serious needs of the language community.

In the North the DUP are continuing the old pattern of sectarian attacks on the language. They will have no desire to take positive actions on behalf of the language without serious pressure from below.

But there are significant questions surrounding those parties who are supposed to be supportive of the language, including Sinn Féin who hold the First Minister position. A draft programme for government was published three months ago which didn’t mention the language, a stark example of the lack of attention being paid to the language by all the big parties in this so-called ‘new era’ of Stormont.

Immediately, the Executive and the Irish Government must both fill Foras na Gaeilge’s funding gap. And we should all remember the lessons of 2016/17. It was cross-party neglect and a programme for government in 2016 which dropped any mention of an Irish language act that inspired the first meetings of An Dream Dearg. And it was attacks from the DUP which sparked thousands to subsequently take to the streets. We need to return to those streets to stop these cuts, and to properly secure the future funding to which the Irish language community is entitled.