THE Irish Government has announced a €289k funding injection to reprint a range of Irish language books which are currently out of print or are about to be.
The move, which has been approved by the Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, Patrick O’Donovan, will provide €289,030 for Foras na Gaeilge to reprint a wide range of Irish language publications.
“Foras na Gaeilge is doing very important work in fostering and strengthening the use of the language among the country’s young people as well as public bodies and other groups in the private and voluntary sectors in all matters pertaining to the Irish language,” Minister O’Donovan said.
“The reprinting of these books is of particular importance because of the need for a wide range of books to be available to the Irish speaking community, especially in the Gaeltacht, covering a wide range of interests, subjects and genres and serving various levels of ability and fluency,” he added.
“To that end, I am pleased, as Minister of State, that my Department is able to provide this grant to Foras na Gaeilge, supporting the Government’s objectives around the implementation of the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010-2030.”
With the grant, Foras na Gaeilge aims to “meet the continuing demand and sales of these books”.
The organisation has outlined that the funding will “greatly assist in developing the Irish language at family level as well as promoting it as an everyday spoken language”.
The grant will also provide support to families raising children through Irish in the Gaeltacht, in Gaeltacht Service Towns, in the Irish Language Networks as well as Irish language learners and the language planning process generally.