The DUP has been urged to agree to a new funding model to help prevent cuts to an all-island Irish language agency that was set up following the Good Friday Agreement.
Stakeholders met in Dublin on Tuesday for a “crisis assembly” to discuss funding cuts to Foras na Gaeilge, which they are blaming on the DUP.
Foras na Gaeilge has said it has to make savings of more than €800,000 (£669,000) and that will mean less funding for some groups operating in Northern Ireland.
An implementation body called the North/South Language Body is composed of Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency and reports to the North/South Ministerial Council (NSMC).
Funding for the North/South Language Body is approved by the NSMC, with the Irish Government providing 75% of Foras na Gaeilge’s annual budget and the remaining 25% coming from Stormont, as per a funding ratio agreed by the body.
Foras na Gaeilge has been under increasing financial pressure in recent years, with rising costs and no significant increase in its budget.
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A new funding formula that would put the organisation and other cross-border bodies on a firmer financial footing is understood to have been agreed by the respective finance departments in Belfast and Dublin, but this needs to be signed off in both jurisdictions.
According to the all-island Irish language organisation Conradh na Gaeilge, one of the groups that would be impacted by the funding cuts, the proposed framework would allow either government to provide additional funds to Foras na Gaeilge above the pre-agreed ratio, without the need for equivalent funding from the other government.
It is understood there have been five attempts since the autumn to get this proposal on the Executive’s agenda, but none have been successful so far, with the blame being laid at the door of the DUP.
Speaking following Tuesday’s meeting, Julian de Spáinn, General Secretary of Conradh na Gaeilge, said the funding structure of Foras na Gaeilge is “broken” and Irish language groups have been left with “less and less” as a result.
“The groups were also in total agreement [at the meeting] that overturning the €820,000 of cuts, which we are calling for as a first step, will not be enough in any way to solve the outstanding, major structural funding problems of Foras na Gaeilge and the sector as a whole.”
“If the case arises that Foras na Gaeilge cannot be structurally changed, and this presently is in the hands of the DUP, it was agreed that we will clearly need alternative funding mechanisms which would facilitate the allocation of additional funds from the Irish Government directly to communities and organisations.
“We unanimously agreed on the need for an immediate national campaign to bring this issue to a head and finally resolve a funding framework that is no longer fit for purpose.”
When contacted, the DUP referred to comments from deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly regarding the issue in the Assembly last week.
Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly during a visit to a GAA club in west Belfast in March 2024
“There is a careful balance in all those things, and the balance in the contribution, north and south, to those bodies is to ensure that the work that happens in those bodies is balanced in their north/south aspects,” she said.
“I understand that the former finance minister was, perhaps, proposing to break that and to facilitate the South increasing its contribution without its being linked to Northern Ireland’s contribution.
“That is not something that I am in agreement with, and, therefore, there is simply not agreement on that proposal at this stage.”
A Sinn Fein spokesperson said: “It is extremely concerning that the DUP appears to be holding up the agreement of a new funding model which could boost financial support for grassroots Irish language organisations.
“The Irish language is flourishing right throughout our society, and grassroots organisations play an invaluable role in this. They deserve to be fully supported and any attempt to stifle their work must be called out.
“These organisations are embedded in many communities across our island, carrying out invaluable work, creating jobs and promoting the Irish language, even under increasing pressure over the last number of years.
“Fair funding is key to sustaining organisations and ensuring they are fit for purpose. A new funding model can help deliver this and should be agreed by the DUP immediately.”
Stormont’s Executive Office was contacted for comment but did not respond.
A spokesperson for Dublin’s Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht said that, while additional monies have been available in its budget in recent years (including 2025), co-funding according to the funding ratio is required from Stormont’s Department for Communities (DfC) before any funding increase can be made.
They said: “The issue of funding of the North/South Implementation Bodies is being discussed by the Departments of Finance and sponsor departments in both jurisdictions and a final decision has not been made on the 2025 budget, which is due to be presented to the next meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council in the spring.”