CRUCIAL funds to underpin the development of the Irish language across the North were pledged by the British government  during the recent Hillsborough negotiations.

As revealed by Gerry Adams on his Belfast Media Group blog today, the £20m cash injection for the Irish language will be shared between the Irish Language Broadcast Fund – which funds TV, radio and websites in Irish – and a raft of new-build projects.

Providing over 75 hours of TV in Irish for the BBC and TG4, the Irish Language Broadcast Fund has been denied funding by successive unionist ministers of culture. However, this new deal will secure its future funding requirements of around £3m per annum until 2015.

The additional £8m from the new kitty will be targeted at Irish language capital projects – good news for the fledgling Gaeltacht Quarter initiative in West Belfast where an extension to the Cultúrlann and new offices at the corner of Falls and Broadway are waiting for the funding green light.

Seán Mistéil, Chair of Coláiste Feirste, which is set to launch a £12m project on the former Beechmount Leisure Centre campus, says the new funds will be “a shot in the arm” for the community.

“From Twinbrook’s Scoil na Fuiseoige to An Droichead in South Belfast, we have pioneering Irish language build projects just waiting for the final funding push to get under way,” he said. “This new kitty

could be the answer to their prayers and, if deployed wisely, could usher in a new era for the Gaeltacht Quarter plan.”

Also writing on his blog, Gerry Adams reveals that Culture Minister Nelson McCausland will bring forward his oft-delayed draft strategy on minority languages to the Executive by the end of March, while Martin McGuinness has engaged directly with Peter Robinson on the long-awaited Irish Language Act, first promised at St Andrew’s in 2006. The First and deputy First Minister will provide a report to the Executive by the end of this month on the progress made in relation to the Irish Language Act and other logjammed issues.

“The work goes on,” adds Gerry Adams. “But it’s bigger than Sinn Féin. We cannot change society on our own. But we can and do work with others. Our party wants to be used as a resource by those who want to create a bilingual society. This has to include services that ensure cradle-to-grave opportunities to live through the medium of Irish, if that is  your choice.”

To read the full blog, go to leargas.blogspot.com