Following a decision by the North South Ministerial Council on 10 July 2013, a new era in the development of the Irish language was commenced with the announcement by Foras na Gaeilge on 17 January 2014, of the six Lead Organisations that would take responsibility for six major areas of work. The decision was the result of a process which began in 2008 to coordinate and reorganise the work of 19 Irish language organisations being funded by Foras na Gaeilge on an annual basis to support the development of Irish throughout Ireland.
The Language Development Forum is representative of local language interest groups funded by Foras na Gaeilge at community level and is an integral part of the partnership approach, the formal structure between the Lead Organisations and Foras na Gaeilge.
The objective of the Language Development Forum is to get the views and advice of Foras na Gaeilge grantees, i.e. the language community, on the development of Irish in the general areas under the responsibility of the six Lead Organisations, and on the Lead Organisations’ plans. This advice is taken into account in the development of the lead organisations’ plans. The Language Development Forum achieves this objective in the following ways:
