Údarás Na Gaeltachta Strategic Plan 2021-2025 Announced

The new Údarás na Gaeltachta Strategic Plan 2021-2025 was officially launched by Government Chief Whip and the Minister of State for Sport and the Gaeltacht, Jack Chambers, T.D., in association with the Údarás na Gaeltachta Chairperson, Anna Ní Ghallachair and CEO Mícheál Ó hÉanaígh in Gaoth Dobhair this morning.

The themes prevalent in this strategic plan are Enable, Strengthen, and the Sustainability of the Gaeltacht with an overarching aim of developing the Gaeltacht as a creative, innovative, and sustainable region. This strategy is being launched at a critical juncture for the Gaeltacht with the goal being encouraging thriving, sustainable Gaeltacht communities.

Údarás Na Gaeltachta strategies for a bigger and better Gaeltacht

Údarás Na Gaeltachta has two main objectives and five strategic objectives, to guide the development of new initiatives and investment in human, natural, and capital resources in the Gaeltacht for the benefit of the community and the environment. Their main language planning objective is to be implemented in 26 language planning areas and three Gaeltacht service towns by the end of 2025.

Their main employment objective is to have 9,000 people employed in client companies in the Gaeltacht by the end of 2025. Their strategic objectives are as follows, to make the Gaeltacht a place with strong and sustainable language communities, and to make it an attractive place for people to live.

They want to make the Gaeltacht a recognized place where the spirit of entrepreneurship is strongly promoted and to make the Gaeltacht a distinctive and vibrant place that is appealing in terms of culture, arts, and tourism. Finally, to develop the Galetacht as a place to get high-quality products, services and experiences are provided and are accessible to the whole Galetacht community.

There are also seven strategic products envisioned to bolster the Gaeltacht and its community. 1. gteic – Gréasán Digiteach na Gaeltachta –  innovation and digital hubs with high-speed broadband operating throughout Gaeltacht. 2. Green Gaeltacht – Reducing the carbon footprint of the Gaeltacht community and clients.

3. Páirc an Mara – Constructing and marketing of this important and sustainable facility will begin in the same time frame. 4. Tourism – Creating projects and products and tourism packages and advertising them to domestic and international markets, investing in Tourism Management Development Scheme.

5. Branda an Gaeltachta – Further pushing the brand of the Gaeltacht as a place of work, community, arts and tourism. 6. – Diaspóra an Gaeltachta – The strong links with the diaspora will be built on to attract investment to the Gaeltacht as well as focusing on attracting people back home.

Finally 7. – Cultúr na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta a Chothú i Measc an Aosa Óig – Based on research aimed at better understanding Gaeltacht youth culture, to foster confidence pride and ownership among young people in terms of the language.

Government Chief Whip and the Minister of State for the Gaeltacht and Sport Jack Chambers, T.D said “Údarás na Gaeltachta have outlined a vison for the Gaeltacht here for the next five years. It is an ambituous plan, a plan that will benefit the Irish Speaking Community, enterprise and community development in the Gaeltacht.

Similar to other communities countrywide Gaeltacht communities are dealing with the implications of the pandemic, a crisis which caught the whole world by surprise. Údarás na Gaeltachta has a central role in all aspects of Gaeltacht life from the economy and community development to language planning. This new strategy will reveal the vital link with the community, the pioneering work required and the innovative work of the organisation that is required in the sectors in which they are operating.”

Anna Ní Ghallachair, Chairperson, Údarás na Gaeltachta said “On behalf of the Board, I welcome this ambitious strategy for the period 2021 – 2025. It is a strategy that builds on the foundation laid during the 2018 – 2020 Strategy and on the work that Údarás na Gaeltachta has been doing for this past forty years. This strategy sets out a vision for a vibrant and progressive Gaeltacht, with projects which look to the future and will benefit the economic, cultural and social life of the Gaeltacht.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the country’s economy over the past year and, as a consequence, we face a major development challenge in the coming years; but it is a challenge that we will tackle, as we always do, with spirit and enthusiasm.

Notwithstanding this challenge, we aim to employ 9,000 people in Údarás client companies by the end of the period of this strategy, a commitment to which the Board and the executive are strongly committed.

During the period of the last strategy, the organisation, in conjunction with the local communities, made significant progress in introducing a language planning process in the Gaeltacht. Language plans have now been approved in most Language Planning Areas and Language Planning Committees and Officers will work with a view to consolidating and strengthening the language over the next five years.”

Speaking on the launch as well was Mícheál Ó hÉanaigh, Chief Executive Officer, Údarás na Gaeltachta, he said “Údarás na Gaeltachta’s Strategy for the period 2021-2025 sets out a vision for the Gaeltacht as a creative, innovative and viable region. Our objective is to ensure that the Gaeltacht is a region where Irish is the living language of a community that is attractive to live in, with first-class employment opportunities. The strengthening, enablement and sustainability of the Gaeltacht is intertwined with the Strategy and the approach the Údarás will adopt over the next five years.

This Strategy comes at a time of great change in our lives. We need to be ready to seize opportunities and overcome challenges. First-class human, cultural and natural resources are available in the Gaeltacht. In the 40 years since its inception, the Údarás has played a role in developing an exemplary community and business infrastructure in the Gaeltacht. During the lifetime of this Strategy, we will focus on viable development, the principles of sustainability and the circular economy.”

For more information, check out the link here.