The 2024 End of Year Statement, published on Monday 27 January, showed how much Foras na Gaeilge has achieved in 2024, especially in the creation of employment, increasing Irish language book sales and supporting groups throughout the island. 526 grants were provided throughout the year.

But after years of cuts to the Foras na Gaeilge budget going back to 2008 and continuous increases in annual costs due to inflation, continuous increases in pay rates and pensions bill including the pensions of Bord na Gaeilge employees, the Foras na Gaeilge board had to come together and tackle the huge gap in the 2025 budget at the first meeting of 2025. Due to the increase in the Irish language and the continuing demand for funding schemes, that it is of concern to Foras na Gaeilge that budget cuts are being announced today.

As it stands, €17.7 million is the starting point for the year’s baseline budget for 2025. From that sum, we have obligations (funding promised in contracts, including staff employment contracts, and in grant schemes from previous years) of €16.9 million. This represents 95% of the budget. When it is considered that the various schemes/projects Foras na Gaeilge undertook in 2024, and the unavoidable increases, there was a gap of €817,945 in this year’s budget.

It is feared that Foras na Gaeilge has no alternative but to remove items from the year’s programme of work and budget and to cut others back.

The projects that will not will not have funding available to them this year include: the awareness campaign Creidim Ionat (I believe in You), the Translation Seal, and work on the Dictionary Corpus.

Schemes to be cancelled will include: the Business Support Scheme and the Festivals Scheme Call 2, which was to cater for festivals in the second half of the year.

Reductions will be made to may funding schemes which will be run to implement savings this year, including: the Irish Language Networks Scheme, the Major Arts Events Scheme, the Drama Companies Scheme, the Youth Events Scheme, the Summer Camps Scheme, scholarships for university students as well as Foras na Gaeilge project and corporate spending.

To find such large savings in our budget, Foras na Gaeilge had to reduce some of our greatest areas of spending. There will therefore have to be cuts made to the funding provided to the 6 Lead Organisations, the Irish Language Networks Development Scheme and the media schemes.

Foras na Gaeilge Chairperson, Professor Regina Uí Chollatáin, “We understand that groups will be very disappointed, at a time when the economy in the south is so healthy, and that these decisions will have implications for the year’s work agenda as well as the sector and area where they work. I very much regret making this announcement today but we still hope there remains an opportunity to withdraw some of these cuts depending on funding circumstances later in the year.”

Foras na Gaeilge Chief Executive, Seán Ó Coinn, said, “Foras na Gaeilge officers will be in contact with groups and organisations in respect of the decisions and with guidance on the cuts next week.”

End

Further information

Anna Davitt, Programme Manager: Communication, Marketing & Awareness, Foras na Gaeilge

Tel: 00 353 87 293 7686

Email: adavitt@forasnagaeilge.ie