Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, Patrick O’Donovan, announced funding of €200,000 for An Ciste Spreagtha 2023.
The €200,000 fund will be administered by Conradh na Gaeilge’s Seachtain na Gaeilge team to enable community groups to organise Irish-language events in their own locality as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia 2023 celebrations. Seachtain na Gaeilge is the largest Irish language festival in the world. The festival first started in 1902 and sees up to one million people joining in each year.
The Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media awarded funding for An Ciste Spreagtha for the first time last year. The project was a great success and provided an incentive for community groups to return to organising in-person events after the pandemic. The aim of the fund is to encourage the organisation of Irish language and Gaeltacht events at local and community level.
Efforts will be made to have events take place in local communities in all corners of Ireland. It is hoped that these events will attract new groups of people to the language and give them an opportunity to practice their Irish in their own locality.
In Gaeltacht areas and in places that the Irish Language has a stronger presence, groups are being asked to give people social opportunities to use Irish and to bring the community together to celebrate the language.
Regarding An Ciste Spreagtha, Minister of State Mr O’Donovan said: “I am delighted that my department is able to support An Ciste Spreagtha again this year as part of the Seachtain na Gaeilge 2023 celebrations. The initiative is a great way to get communities across Ireland speaking Irish and celebrating the language at a local level.”
Paula Melvin, President of Conradh na Gaeilge, said: “We are very happy that An Coiste Spreagtha for Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia is in place again this year. It will support the excellent local groups that organize Irish language events during the festival and beyond. We hope that this fund will encourage the Irish-speaking community, the Gaeltacht community and those who have not had the opportunity to participate in Irish-language events before. We are also very grateful to the Minister of State and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media for providing this funding once again.”