At a meeting of the Board of Foras na Gaeilge on the 1^st of July, grants to the value of €182,876 were approved for the Youth Events Scheme 2016/17 which provides young people with the opportunity to use Irish in an inspired, fun way.   These grants will enable the grantees to organise at least 12 sessions, aimed at young people aged 3-18 years of age outside of school hours, throughout the school year.

Speaking today, however, the Chief Executive of Foras na Gaeilge, Ferdie Mac an Fhailigh, stated, “Although Foras na Gaeilge is very happy to announce these grants, we are disappointed that we were unable to fund every eligible application.  We announced this time last year that grants to the value of €322,361.05 were approved for 74 projects of the Youth Events Scheme 2015/16 and the amount of current grantees this year has decreased dramatically from that figure due to a lack of available funding.   The demand for the scheme increased this year, however, of the 98 applications which were received of a high standard, we were able to fund just 41 due to cuts on the budget of Foras na Gaeilge. Unfortunately, more than 1,835 young people will miss the opportunity to attend youth events throughout the school year as a result.”

41 projects were approved in total for the year 16/17 to the value of €182,876.   These projects will contain a broad range of activities such as sport, drama, dance, music and other activities.

Foras na Gaeilge regrets the impact which continuing cuts have on their total budget, which is reduced by almost 25% within the last ten years, on their scheme of work, and of that of their grantees.   Foras na Gaeilge will continue to do their utmost to secure further funding in order to award to groups who promote the Irish language and who support opportunities to use the Irish language.

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Further information:

Gearóid Mag Uibhrín: gmaguibhrin@forasnagaeilge.ie / 0871779018