Another new funding model for Irish language organisations
September 5, 2012
It has been four long years since the term New Funding Model first cropped up in relation to proposed changes for the Irish language voluntary sector, but has anything been learnt in that time?
Since Foras na Gaeilge was first established under the Good Friday Agreement, the North/South body has provided annual funding for organisations across the country. A total of 19 organisations receive annual core-funding from An Foras, and in 2009, the North South Ministerial Council (NSMC) instructed Foras na Gaeilge to restructure the method in which funding is allocated to this core-funded sector.
Following the direction of the NSMC, Foras proposed a portfolio of schemes in 2010, for which they coined the term, “New Funding Model”.
Rather than providing organisational core-funding, Foras now intended to provide funding on a competitive scheme basis, which would provide funding to successful applicants for short term projects.
As time passed the funding model was gradually tweaked, schemes were added and subtracted which caused much confusion to the public trying to grasp the essence of the new model. Initially seven schemes were announced, which soon increased to ten, and later was reduced to eight before the model was eventually ditched.
With one winner proposed for each scheme, except for the community radio scheme which was deemed an exception, it was apparent that an axe was soon to fall on the number of Irish language organisations.
Not unexpectedly, the organisations themselves did not agree with the new portfolio from the get go. They demanded open discussion, participatory input, independent consultancy, transparency in the process, and above all they requested research based evidence to prove the new funding model was an improvement on the current model.
The Irish language organisations publicly demonstrated their dissatisfaction with the model again and again. The promotion of the Irish language over the past four years has not been helped by ongoing disagreements and tension within the sector between those funded by Foras na Gaeilge and Foras itself, the body which was established to provide leadership and drive the promotion of the language.
Foras na Gaeilge sought change, as according to them the current model is no longer sustainable, but the organisations took the model to mean that Foras na Gaeilge now wanted to fund the promotion of the language solely through short terms schemes which would last no longer than three years.
The organisations have repeatedly stated that they recognise the need for reorganisation of the sector in order to achieve the best results while providing greatest value for money. The organisations have also put forward their desire to engage with Foras in a participatory manner to develop a new model which will benefit Irish across the island.
Earlier this year, following a direction from the NSMC Foras initiated a public consultation process on its new funding model. The general public voiced their concerns about the model at each of the public consultation meetings. An Foras reported to the NSMC that 167 submissions were made, whereas the organisations claim their members submitted ten times that figure. A group of noted sociolinguists and language planners, both national and international, sent a letter to Foras na Gaeilge as part of the consultation in which they strongly condemned the model. While this letter was reported in national newspapers, it was not registered as part of the consultation and was not published on the Foras website as a submission. Tensions continued to rise as the public who were already unhappy with the portfolio of schemes became highly dissatisfied with a consultation process which was falling on deaf ears.
After the latest public consultation meeting, which concluded in early April 2012, the Dáil Joint Committee on the Environment, Transport, Culture, and the Gaeltacht issued a report on the future funding of Irish language organisations. This report recommended the continuation of core-funding of organisations and declared that funding should not be allocated based on a scheme of competitive tendering. The Joint Committee report followed a motion in the Northern Irish Assembly which expressed concern over the consequences of the new funding model.
In light of deepening political pressure, the board of Foras na Gaeilge, who were appointed five months previously, in June 2012 declared an end to the New Funding Model.
It is a shame so much time and effort was wasted over the past four years on a model which was declared unworkable by its intended benefactors. While that particular model has now been ditched, what can be learned by all parties from the past four years? Have the organisations, and/or the public lost all faith in Foras na Gaeilge? On the one hand, Foras na Gaeilge and its core-funded organisations now stand further apart than ever, while on the other hand the threat of the new model has seen organisations working together more closely, which in turn has lead to much organic co-operation.
While one funding model has now been shelved, An Foras are still answerable to the NSMC, who have requested a reorganisation of the sector.
In late July, with only a fortnight’s notice, the leaders of the core-funded organisations were instructed to put their own work programmes aside and participate in a series of workshops over a three day period, facilitated by Dónall Ó Braonáin of Acadamh na hOllscolaíochta Gaeilge. The workshiops had three main aims:
1. To identify gaps in the current provision
2. To identify fields of work within the current provision
3. To identify the fields which should be prioritised.
In addition to the workshops, Foras na Gaeilge have also invited organisations to meetings this week, under specific themes, to discuss their own field in the context of rationalisation.
Unfortunately, the clock is ticking faster than ever for the organisations, as an Foras has informed them that the new funding model will be written next Friday, circulated on Monday, with a four day window for feedback to be received, developed in the final week, and sent to the Board of Foras na Gaeilge by 18th September, for consideration at the Board meeting at the end of the month. If passed by the Board, Foras na Gaeilge will then prepare a business case to put before the NSMC in November 2012.
Organisations are hoping that any new funding model will be clearly linked to the defined concepts of language planning, and that the current provision of services will be analysed in detail prior to the development of a new model.
Foilsithe ar Gaelport.com
Time for education minister to have faith in his ideals
September 3, 2012
AFTER long debate but little action, this academic year parents will be given a choice to change the patron, and by extension the culture, of their child’s school.
Of over 3,300 primary schools, 44 will be surveyed to ask parents if they wish to change the patron of the school their child attends. The questions to be asked are still a work in progress; the net issue is will parents wish to continue having the local Catholic bishop as patron, or will they opt for change. This change process, still to be defined, is arguably one of the most important departures in Irish education since 1922.
The debate in recent years has been about the choice, and the lack of it, parents have for their child’s education. An almost monocultural, almost always Catholic community, has rapidly given way to a much more diverse and likely permanently changed society.
For the first time there is now a significant community of parents who want non-denominational education.
There is a growing disjuncture in school communities between the lives of parents and the ethos of the schools their children attend. It is debatable how effectively promoted a Catholic ethos is in Catholic schools where clergy are largely absent.
A tradition of lay passivity in the face of a dominant clerical presence has left a legacy of indifference in some class rooms.
Minister for Education and Skills Ruairí Quinn has long been a crusader for a more liberal, less clerical Ireland. His controversial comment in 1996 about a post-Catholic pluralist Republic seems percipient in retrospect. Now 66 and probably in his final tour at the cabinet table, he has a chance to leave a lasting mark on the fabric of Irish society. As a former minister in economic portfolios during the 1980s and 90s including finance, it will not be lost on him that the Irish left has manifestly failed to implement a social democrat let alone a socialist economic agenda. Now under the cosh of the Troika, Ruairí Quinn in Government is implementing policies the PDs would have lusted after, but hardly dared hope for. Post-Catholic Ireland is coinciding with a post-social democrat future.
In its centenary year Labour has arguably lost the economic argument for another generation. It is seriously threatened again with electoral retribution. The one plank of its policies where it is unquestionably riding the contemporary zeitgeist is what in the civil war of current American politics are called cultural issues. Eamon Gilmore’s description of gay marriage as ‘the civil rights issue of this generation’ and Pat Rabbitte’s warning off Cardinal Brady against Catholic church engagement in any political campaign on abortion are telling.
A generation ago Garret FitzGerald’s constitutional crusade ran into the ground in the face of economic recession and social conservatism. There is little of the latter left. But Ruairí Quinn, who with Michael Noonan, is the remaining veteran of that cabinet, will know that unpopular governments find delivering major change difficult.
Ruairí Quinn in contrast to his own past rhetoric and his colleagues’ current posturing has been remarkably ameliorating in tone towards Catholic educators. Certainly he has harried the religious orders over compensation payments to abuse victims. He has also said he believes he has been caricatured as an enemy of the Catholic church. He envisages Catholic schools that are ‘openly celebratory about their own religion’ in an environment in which parents would have a free choice between denominational and non-denominational schools.
On the face of it, surveying parents in just 44 schools is a modest proposal. Its critics may say disappointingly so. The complexities of transferring not only patronage but property, and the possibility that parents of any persuasion may be reluctant to change the patron of what they regard as well-run schools, will likely mean modest change in the short term. What is at issue is the effectiveness of the mechanism, once instituted, for delivering more sweeping change in the longer term.
In parallel with a mechanism to allow parents change school patronage is a promise for legislation to amend Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act of 1998. This allows institutions run by religious institutions or orders to bypass anti-discrimination measures ‘where it is reasonable to do so in order to maintain the religious ethos of the institution’. An openly gay teacher or an unmarried teacher who becomes pregnant is vulnerable to the censure, or more, of Boards of Management and Patrons. If largely, but not always an implicit pressure, its removal would empower an openness that could be perceived as undermining a school’s ethos. It would also unquestionably vindicate the personal freedoms of the teachers concerned, as well as influencing the school culture of their students.
Given the overwhelming dominance of Catholic schools, vindicating the religious ethos of school communities that decide to adopt one is unlikely to be a priority now. But it flags a future tension. Similarly the expectation of major change in school patronage is unlikely to be met in the short term. The minority Protestant faiths are acutely aware of the importance of schools to their communities. Contrary to perception, they are a lot less part of an emerging liberal consensus than supposed.
Ruairí Quinn is likely to leave behind a school system where change in the statistics on school patronage is modest or negligible. He has an opportunity to empower a change in the attitudes and ethos of individual teachers, and over time of the patronage of more schools, that could cumulatively be transformative. The Catholic school system is now the overextended infrastructure of a reduced faith community. If less faith-run schools are the conscious choice of more committed parents, new challenges will arise around the religious freedoms of fewer and truer religious schools. For now that future horizon is some way off. In retrospect, however, it will likely be seen as having begun under Ruairí Quinn in Autumn 2012.
* Gerard Howlin is a public affairs consultant, and was a senior government adviser from 1997 to 2007.
www.irishexaminer.com
Your chance to learn Irish
September 3, 2012
“TO BE FLUENT in Irish by 2015” is the exciting and challenging target which over 2015 people across the north have currently committed themselves to as part of the ‘Líofa 2015’ project.
Líofa means fluent and the Líofa 2015 project is the brainchild of Carál Ní Chuilín, Minister of Culture, Arts and Leisure in an effort to promote the Gaelic Language and culture.
The project has proved hugely successful and since the original target has not only been reached but exceeded, a new target of 5000 people has now been set.
There has never been a better time to learn the Irish language. Some people may want to communicate with their children who are learning Irish at school with simple words or phrases and some people may never have had the chance to learn the language and are curious about it.
There really is no reason not to tap into learning Irish. You have nothing to lose and lots of new experiences, thoughts and perspectives to gain.
Irish Language Development is being encouraged and promoted through your local Council in partnership with local community groups and relevant Irish Language organisations such as Foras na Gaeilge, the all-Ireland body responsible for the promotion of Irish.
“As September approaches, it is time to start thinking about availing of the many opportunities to learn Irish that will be out there from mid-September on in the Cookstown and Dungannon & South Tyrone Borough Council areas.” explains Seosaimhín Nic Eachaidh, Irish Language Development Officer.
Three levels of classes are generally offered – Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced – so that learners can learn at a pace that suits them. The numbers of locations in which classes are being made available is constantly increasing as more and more community groups are continuing to come forward to have classses organised in their community.
The Irish Language Development Officer is very much excited at this and wants to make other groups aware that the Councils can advise and help facilitate groups to develop Irish Language activity.
Some people may want to brush up on the Irish Language skills they acquired at school or night classes and they too, may like to attend a Beginners’ class if they want to be ‘comfortable’ or an Intermediate class if they want to be ‘pushed’.
At all three levels emphasis will be placed on confidence building, practical use of language, repetition and practise and this is often most needed at the Intermediate level.
Intermediate or Improvers’ classes are ideally suitable for those who have achieved good results in Irish at school in GCSE or A Level.
University of Ulster’s part-time Irish Language Diploma is unique in that it is ideally suited for both those who want to be ‘comfortable’ and simultaneously, for those who want to be ‘challenged’.
As a result of the Líofa campaign work is ongoing to establish an Irish Language Diploma programme in Cookstown in 2012/13 as it offers a fast-track to fluency.
The part-time Diploma programme offers flexibility as it is recognised that many of those wishing to be fluent by 2015 are learning the language in their spare time.
Dr Malachy Ó Neill explains: “This course is perfect for those who already have cúpla focal and who strive to; speak fluently, listen effectively, read confidently and write accurately.”
Successful Diploma graduates may enter Year 2 of part-time degree course or Year 1 of full time degree course. For more information contact Malachy Ó Néill via email at gaeilge@ulster.ac.uk.
www.tyronetimes.co.uk
The empty wallet
September 3, 2012
Simon Tierney finds ways to explore the Irish language and culture on less cash
Conradh na Gaeilge (6 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, tel: 01-475 7401) is a good spot for learning the lingo because it’s so central and easy to pop into after work. It operates Irish language classes for adults of all levels throughout the year. The next term begins at the end of September.
CnaG is offering a full term of weekly classes (worth up to €180) to the first five people to email brenda@cnag.ie. For details of times and levels, visit www.cnag.ie.
Even without realising it, we are surrounded by the cúpla focal every day, whether it’s hopping on the Luas at Na Ceithre Cúirteanna or listening to the Luas tannoy. The Church (Jervis Street/Mary Street Junction, Dublin 1, tel: 01-828 0102) hosts live traditional music from Sunday to Wednesday every week. It is offering dinner for two, with a bottle of house wine, in their Gallery Restaurant (normally up to €100), to the first three to email competitions@thechurch.ie with the answer to this question: who was married in The Church in 1761? This is a great spot to enjoy some traditional music in a location steeped in Irish history.
The Newbridge 200 Festival marks the bicentenary of the Co Kildare town, on September 6th-16th. A parade, fireworks, theatre and family activities are some of the events that will be lighting up Newbridge. There are four pairs of tickets (normally €15 for each ticket) up for grabs for the Anúna concert at St Conleth’s Church (Naas Road, Newbridge, Co Kildare) on September 15th. Email hazel@riverbank.ie
Conradh na Gaeilge has set up weekly gatherings around the country for those keen to develop Irish language conversational skills. The scheme is entitled “Is Leor Beirt”, or “It Only Takes Two”. For details see the Campaigns section of their website , www.cnag.ie.
Irish language play An Triail is being performed by Fíbín at the Hawks Well Theatre (Temple St, Sligo, Co Sligo, tel: 071-916 1518) on November 15th-16th. There are five free pairs of tickets (normally €12.50 for each ticket) available to the first readers to email info@hawkswell.com
Last but not least …
www.eumom.ie and www.ClapHandies.com are running a series of free play coffee mornings during September. Taking place in locations across Dublin, this is an opportunity to chat with other young parents in the community while the kids are entertained. To register, book and find out location details, log on to www.eumom.ie
www.irishtimes.com
Gaelscoil Neachtain to greet first pupils
September 3, 2012
The Interim Board of Governors of Gaelscoil Neachtain say they are “looking forward” to receiving children next Monday to the new Gaelscoil in Dungiven, approved in May of this year by Education Minister John O’Dowd.
The school will be located temporarily on a site located on the grounds of St Canice’s Primary school, said chairperson of the Gaelscoil, Nodlaig Ní Bhrollaigh.
“The school has been accommodated by St Canice P.S. and St Patrick’s College and there has been great co-operation over the summer between the schools in finding accommodation and facilities for the children of the Gaelscoil. We are delighted to be up and running and we look forward to the new school year and to welcoming the children on the first day of term,” she said.
The initial enrolment is 65 children and the uniform of the school “reflects the gaelic heritage of the locality”, said Ms Ní Bhrollaigh.
“The school crest is made up of an image of a window of the old Priory in Dungiven as the school is named after the first abbot of the Priory, a Scottish-born Saint called Saint Neachtain. The Priory was a centre of learning and students from across Europe came to receive tuition there. Tartan is incorporated into the uniform with a tartan tie, as a reference to the famous ‘Dungiven costume’ which included trousers made of tartan, woven in the Donegal style, unearthed in 1956 near Flanders, Dungiven, now on display in the Ulster Museum. The Dungiven Costume was thought to date to c.1600 and was perhaps originally the property of O’Cahan soldiers.”
Ms Ní Bhrollaigh said the School will be the first Irish medium school under the control of the Western Education and Library Board.
“The stand-alone Gaelscoil will provide a full immersion environment and will encourage the use of the Irish language throughout the school day to enhance the educational potential of the children and facilitate the learning process and appreciate the Irish language as a valuable and living heritage,” she added.
DERRY JOURNAL
Le Chéile Trí Chultúr – ag tógáil droichead idir óige an tuaiscirt
September 3, 2012
