Irish language print and online journalism facing the chop
March 10, 2014
At a Foras na Gaeilge Board Meeting on 28 February 2014, on a recommendation by the Newspaper and Magazine Committee, it was decided to discontinue the current funding arrangements for magazines Feasta, An tUltach, and NósMag and for the websites Gaelport.com, Beo.ie and Saol.ie.
The current funding arrangements for these magazines and websites will conclude on 30 June 2014, and no indication has been given by Foras na Gaeilge as to whether a new scheme will be introduced to ensure continuity of the services under a new or different funding model.
This announcement came as a surprise to the publishers of these services, who each received a telephone call last Tuesday informing them of the Board decision. Foras na Gaeilge has yet to write to each of the organisations to officially inform them of their decision.
It is unknown whether this was a sudden decision by the Board, or whether it has been an item of discussion for some time, as minutes of the Board meetings have not been published online by Foras na Gaeilge for over seven months.
Some of the services which face the chop are extremely successful. The site you are reading right now, Gaelport.com, receives over 1,000,000 hits a year, has over 7,000 subscribers to its ezines, and has won high praise and many accolades over the years.
Kevin De Barra, Director of Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, the organisation behind Gaelport.com, stated: “When it was announced in January that Foras na Gaeilge would be discontinuing their funding to Comhdháil Náisiúnta na Gaeilge, we understood that we would be forced to let our staff go. At that time, we believed we would have the opportunity to pass on our projects, such as Gaelport.com, to other parties in order to ensure continuity in the service, however with this latest announcement it is unclear whether that would be acceptable to Foras na Gaeilge. It worries me that the future for each and every website and magazine funded by Foras na Gaeilge is now uncertain, and that no clear strategy to support print journalism in the Irish language has been put in place”.
A statement issued by Editor of Feasta, Pádraig Mac Fhearghusa, states: “One has to be worried about the future of the magazine, as it is not possible to run a literary or historical magazine similar to Feasta as a business in either Irish or English. However necessary as a service, the publication of short stories, poetry and book reviews is not a profit making enterprise. Grant aid is vital.”
In February 2013, the funding of newspaper Gaelscéal was discontinued with Foras declaring the disappointing sales figures did not provide value for money consistent with the grand aid provided. In December 2013, a new scheme was announced by Foras na Gaeilge to fund a weekly online Irish language newspaper. While the results of that scheme have yet to be announced, in the interim period a vacuum was created where the Irish language community were without a regular printed newspaper in their own language.
Gaelport.com
