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Ní thuigim a n-intinn

February 3, 2014

From June there will be six organisations looking after the Irish voluntary sector. Thirteen other organisations will have to get funding from elsewhere or go to the wall. None of the six is based in the North. This is bureaucracy gone mad. A lot of Foras na Gaeilge’s work has been highly successful. But why can they not build on what they have done? We lost the newspaper Foinse a few years ago. At that time Foinse was one of the best newspapers in the country. It was far better than most of the English language papers. It attracted top writers. The paper had problems regarding circulation and advertising. But instead of helping Foinse through this, Foras terminated its contract and gave it to Gaelscéal. The Gaelscéal staff lacked necessary experience and their contract was ended early. Now we don’t have a national newspaper in Irish. (The Indo publishes a small supplement every Wednesday, and that’s your lot.) Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge set up a very professional Internet site: www.gaelport.com It provides pieces of news about the Irish language as well as information about Irish events. It is a very good service: there is a demand for it, but the service is limited. The Comhdháil has a highly qualified staff, and with extra funding it could develop the service. Now an Chomhdháil will be gone in six months and this service will most likely disappear too.

www.derryjournal.com