Approval granted for extra funding for Irish language body set up under Good Friday Agreement

Foireann Gaeltachta The Journal a chuir an scéal seo ar fáil. Tá leagan as Gaeilge anseo.

WHILE THE BUDGET announced two months ago promised an additional €2m for Foras na Gaeilge, until this week there was no certainty that the cross-border language institution established as a result of the Good Friday Agreement would have access to the additional funding.

However, following a decision at a sectoral meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council held in Monaghan on Wednesday, that approval has finally been granted. This decision means that Foras na Gaeilge will have funding of €18.26m during 2026.

Foras na Gaeilge is the cross border body established following the Good Friday Agreement to support Irish language initiatives north and south.

The uncertainty arose as a result of the arrangement between the Government in Dublin and the Northern Ireland Executive regarding the funding of the language body which involves two separate organisations. These are Foras na Gaeilge and The Boord o’Ulster Scots/The Ulster Scots Agency.

Under this arrangement, the Dublin Government provides 75% of the funding to Foras na Gaeilge and 25% to the Ulster-Scots Agency, while the Irish language organisation receives 25% from the Northern Executive and 75% of the funding for Ulster-Scots comes from Stormont.

This formula is set out in the legislation under which the language body was established and has often caused problems in the past. When the power-sharing institutions were previously suspended, the southern Government was not allowed to give the language body any increases as they were frozen in maintenance mode.

Last year, when it emerged that there was a gap of over €800,000 in the body’s funding for language projects and organisations due to rising salaries and pension costs, the Northern Minister for Communities, Gordon Lyons of the DUP, refused to grant permission, which meant that negotiations were needed between the two Ministers to reach a temporary arrangement.

Conradh na Gaeilge has called for a reform of funding arrangements for the Irish language sector over this issue.

Following the meeting at the Síochána campus in Monaghan, Dara Calleary, Minister for Rural, Community and Gaeltacht Development, issued a statement welcoming the decision made at the meeting.

I am pleased that the 2026 business plans and budgets have now been approved for Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency, enabling them to implement their targets over the coming year.

“This will provide certainty to both agencies, and to the organisations and community groups across the island who benefit from the support and funding schemes they provide.”

At the NSMC meeting, it was decided to adopt the business plans of Foras na Gaeilge and the Ulster-Scots Agency and it was agreed that a total funding of €20m would be made available to the two agencies.

This included an additional €2m available to Foras na Gaeilge for “programmes and activities”.

It was also announced that funding for the Irish Language Books Programme would increase to €2m, the largest ever allocation to the programme.

The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme