[lg policy] Eire: Minister must demand better return on Irish language spend

[Harold Schiffman]

Minister must demand better return on Irish language spend



EOIN Ó MURCHÚ

OPINION: To justify its budget, Foras na Gaeilge must play a more assertive role

IN THESE straitened economic times, when “value for money” is the
constant refrain, it is appropriate to look at how funds are spent
spend money on the promotion of the Irish language. While those
inherently hostile to the language will use the economic difficulties
for another demand that the language be officially marginalised, all
popular surveys show a clear majority of the population value the
language and want it protected, advanced and preserved in some way.

And the Government has responded to that reality by endorsing the
20-year strategy for the language. We now have a programme for Irish,
but how should we bring it forward and what use should be made of
State money in this context? These questions are important now because
in December the Government will have to appoint a new board for Foras
na Gaeilge, the primary State instrument for language policy
implementation.

Will it be business as usual, or will the Government take an approach
that sets measurable targets and expects results? Foras na Gaeilge is
complicated by the fact that it is a North-South implementation body
under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. It replaced the previous
State board, Bord na Gaeilge, but as a North-South body it is very
much constrained by political sensitivities that are not entirely in
the Government’s control.

Sinn Féin, of course, was anxious during the agreement negotiations to
include Irish policy in the list of such bodies, because it would
inevitably enhance the status of Irish in the North and create a
context for pushing the language there.

The South, however, is different. Officially, the language has primary
status, but in fact officialdom treats it largely with indifference. A
small amount of money suffices to take it off the agenda.

This small amount, €18 million from two governments this year, has
itself been reduced by 10 per cent and further cuts of the same size
could be in prospect in the next two budgets. It is vital, therefore,
to make sure that this money is used most effectively.

All serious language revivalists (including those who just wish to see
the language preserved as a spoken medium) accept there are three main
focuses of a coherent language policy.

The first is to maintain the economic, social and linguistic vitality
of the existing Gaeltachtaí,­ where Irish remains – in varying degrees
of strength – as the spoken vernacular of family and community life.

The second is recognising and ensuring legitimate rights of Irish
speakers throughout the State (and indeed throughout the island), in
terms of public business and cultural servicing in radio and
television.

And the third is ensuring a public presence of the language, and
encouraging community initiatives and especially educational
developments such as Gaelscoileanna.

The endorsement of the 20-year strategy provides the basis for all of these.

Of course, Údarás na Gaeltachta is the key player as regards Gaeltacht
policy, and Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs Dinny McGinley was
very much on the ball when he insisted that the Údarás should keep the
industrial development functions that Colm McCarthy’s “Bord Snip Nua”
wanted to take from it.

The Coimisinéar Teangan, Seán Ó Cuirreáin, is working strongly and
effectively as regards public rights, but it is the third pillar that
needs strengthening.

Read the minutes of Foras na Gaeilge that are published online, and it
becomes apparent that it is a very incestuous set-up. When one set of
grant applications is up for discussion, two or three members of the
board absent themselves to avoid a conflict of interest. When the next
comes up the previous absentees return while another two or three go
out.

It’s like Lanigan’s Ball, with the music playing to an essentially
empty hall. To justify the money spent on it, Foras na Gaeilge needs
to play a more assertive role as part of the strategy.

Minister for the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan, of course, is under severe
constraints: he has to take account of the North-South dimension, with
only half of the board for his nomination, and he has to take account
of Labour wishes as well as those of his own party.

But it is crucial that the new board is not just a collection of
county councillors and party connectees. It needs activism, not for
the sake of confrontation but to advance the Government’s declared
agenda in the strategy, which theoretically at least enjoys the
support of all Dáil parties.

The Minister knows the leader of the Labour Party, Tánaiste Éamon
Gilmore, (as well as the Taoiseach Enda Kenny himself), is favourably
disposed to a coherent language policy.

This should give him courage to take command of the board, and reshape
it as an active instrument for the policy he wants to develop and
implement.

For while Deenihan is not a fluent speaker of Irish, he is committed
to the language.

The appointment of a new board is therefore a chance to really develop
policy in this area and ensure the “value for money” that the
economists demand of us.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/1010/1224305517722.html

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