Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2021
444. Deputy Joe McHugh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the supports she plans putting in place to support the Irish language in view of the limited interaction, communication and engagement between persons in the past year and the absence of conversation between persons as Gaeilge; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17330/21]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030 and the accompanying Action Plan for the Irish Language (Plean Gníomhaíochta 2018-2022) represents state policy for the Irish language and Gaeltacht regions. The Strategy and supporting action plan have cross-departmental ownership and, accordingly, responsibility for implementation falls on a number of Government Departments, bodies and Irish language and Gaeltacht organisations. The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport, Gaeltacht and Media is responsible for coordinating its implementation.
The Action Plan and the inaugural annual progress report published in October 2020 present a clear overview of the 180 or so actions being advanced by c. 60 stakeholders in support of the language and Gaeltacht regions.
Undoubtedly, functioning in the shadow of the pandemic over the last year has proved challenging and this is no less the case in terms of delivery of supports in the domains of Irish language and Gaeltacht affairs.
Nonetheless, significant progress is being made and the forthcoming publication of the second progress report - covering the period from July 2019 to December 2020 - following Government approval, will set out in detail the advances that have been made over the period, notwithstanding the current challenges arising from the pandemic.
I might also point out that an additional exchequer allocation of €14.8m was included in Budget 2021 for the Irish language and Gaeltacht sectors, further enabling support for the language and Gaeltacht regions - particulartly in the context of the ongoing implementation of the language planning process and the the Policy on Gaeltacht Education being spearheaded by the Department of Education.
This additional allocation ultimately means that total funding in excess of €78m is being deployed in support of the Irish language via my Department alone this year.
In 2021, a budget allocation of €5m has been made by my Department to support the Language Planning Process. This will enable my Department to fund both Údarás na Gaeltachta and Foras na Gaeilge who are tasked under the Gaeltacht Act, 2012 with supporting the language planning process. It will also enable my Department to support, at a central level, organisations which operate in the Early Years and Childhood, Family and Traditional Arts sectors as an additional support to the language planning process.
To date, my Department has approved 20 Language Plans in respect of Gaeltacht Language Planning Areas, 3 Irish Language Networks and 2 Gaeltacht Service Towns. There are currently 22 Language Planning Officers (including 4 assistant officers) employed in 18 Language Planning Areas across the Gaeltacht. Since the onset of Covid-19 restrictions, these Language Planning Officers (LPOs) have been working to provide new and innovative opportunities for their communities to connect and use Irish together.
The roll-out of these new initiatives began as early as April of last year, with a series of free online ‘Zúmlanna’ or workshops covering a range of different interests from a six-week creative writing course to online ‘oícheanta airneáin’ (traditional social evenings with music, song and dance) to a series of fashion and style workshops. At the same time, the LPOs were also launching #SeoÍAnGhaeltacht, a social media campaign aimed at creating a virtual space for different Gaeltacht communities to connect with each other and share what the Gaeltacht means to them. This campaign is ongoing and was nominated for a communications and media award at Oireachtas na Samhna.
Since the roll-out of these early initiatives, LPOs in all 18 Gaeltacht areas have been working on providing their communities with opportunities to use and/or improve their Irish with projects such as:
- An Caifé Cultúir – a monthly online ‘Culture Café’ hosted by LPOs from the Galway Gaeltacht;
- Online Irish Language Classes and Ciorcail Chomhrá;
- Comórtas Reatha na Gaeltachta – a virtual fitness challenge where walking/running groups in different Gaeltacht areas measured their collective mileage over a month to compete for the title of the ‘Fittest Gaeltacht Area’. During this event, which took place for the first time in spring 2020 and will be running again from 5th April 2020, participants were able to connect via a WhatsApp group for their ‘team’ (all of which was through Irish). This initiative also encouraged connections between different Gaeltacht areas;
- Maratón na bPáistí – an initiative run in conjunction with MarathonKids where pupils in participant primary schools ran a marathon (42.2km) over a number of weeks. Thanks to the LPOs, participant schools in the Gaeltacht received Irish language teaching materials on the physical and mental benefits of running and students were presented with bespoke t-shirts and medals;
- An Mhí faoi Bhláth and An Ghaeltacht faoi Bhláth – the ‘An Mhí Faoi Bhláth’ project was run in the Ráth Chairn and Baile Ghib Gaeltacht in early spring 2021: individuals and families in the Meath Gaeltacht were provided with packets of seeds and information through Irish on the names of different flowers and how and where to plant them. This project inspired An Ghaeltacht faoi Bhláth, a series of online seminars on gardening, nature and ecology with different guest speakers from various Gaeltacht areas. The seminars are free to the public and encourage open discussion and participation.
Due to the ongoing COVID situation, many of the organisations and activities funded under my Department’s Irish Language Support Schemes have had to move online. My Department has ensured that they have received support, in financial terms and otherwise, in adapting their workplans, as needed, to ensure that they continue to serve the Irish language community.
Amongst the various initiatives my Department has supported are:
- Gaillimh le Gaeilge ‘Líonra ar líne’ – Irish language online networking events for the business community in Galway City
- Clár Techspace – Training and activities provided online for students and teachers in STEAM subjects as Gaeilge
- TechFéile – This years TechFéile was run as a programme of events online rather than a one-day event. The programme of events, which ran over eight weeks, culminated last week in a live virtual awards ceremony celebrating all projects. Over the course of the eight weeks, there were weekly online sessions with the TechSpace team, to make sure that each group had all of the support they need to learn and grow in their chosen area.
- An Cumann Scoildrámaíochta – My Department is supporting An Cumann Scoildrámaíochta and schools around the country to record entries for this year’s Féile Scoildrámaíochta
- Gluaiseacht (Conradh na Gaeilge) – The roadshow supported by my Department moved all of their activities online last year, ensuring schoolchildren and third level students still had the opportunity to participate in a wide range of activities and workshops as Gaeilge and to connect with Irish speakers across the country
- Teaching of Irish overseas – My Department has continued to support the teaching of Irish overseas with online classes being delivered via our partners such as the Fulbright Commission and the Ireland Canada University Foundation
Foras na Gaeilge, its Lead Organisations and organisations/groups throughout the country have also worked to support the Irish language community.
While there were few opportunities to physically meet over the past year, there has been a huge upswing in the opportunities available online and on social media. Foras na Gaeilge through its Lead Organisations supported several online events, for example:
- Book and music launches
- Seminars on educational issues and many other topics
- Family events: bingo, quizzes
- Workshops: youth events, reading, singing
- Competitions: music, writing
- Concerts, dramas (online)
- Public meetings (with increased attendance)
Many people have grasped this opportunity to attend online events and classes that they would not have been able to attend with physical events. Many more resources have been produced online also, including educational and family resources.
In relation to the broad issue of communication and engagement, I can assure the Deputy that my Department fully recognises the challenges presented by the pandemic and the importance of seeking to overcome the ongoing challenges.
My Department is in regular communication with organisations and stakeholders via virtual meetings in order to mitigate all of the challenges insofar as possible and to disseminate information as appropriate regarding the wide range of mitigating financial supports being provided centrally in respect of COVID-19.
