asked the Minister for Education why a publication in official Irish named Inniu receives an annual grant of £20,000 and a publication in the living Gaeltacht Irish named Amárach received only a fortnightly grant of £60 up to 1960 when it ceased; and if in order to encourage the living language of the Gaeltacht he will give an immediate substantial grant for the publication of this paper.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Grants to Irish Language Publications.
44.
I do not accept the implications of the first part of the question. Accordingly in so far as the question is based on these implications, no matter for reply arises. Apart from this, each application for a grant is fully considered on its merits.
Is the Minister satisfied that the Irish used in the publication Inniu is official Irish, whereas in Amárach it is Fior-Ghaeltacht Irish and the latter publication is financially victimised in comparison with the former? Does he think that is right?
The grants to these publications are not based on any type of Irish. The grant is given per edition of the paper. There is a limited amount of money and as a matter of policy, I have given a larger proportion to Inniu because it is a paper with an editor and a permanent staff and comes out regularly every week—up to recently it was the only weekly paper in Irish. Because it is read fairly widely and is aimed at children of all classes in the schools, I was satisfied it would be the most suitable one to support and satisfied that it was worthy of adequate support. The Deputy seems to think that Amárach got no grant——
A very small one.
It received no grant up to 1960 but it now has a grant per edition.
Can the Minister indicate the circulation of each paper?
Inniu has a weekly readership of about 8,000 and the other fortnightly has something less than 4,000.