Irish language newspaper under threat of closure

[LiamORaiste]

Lá Nua, the Irish language daily newspaper, is under threat of closure following the rejection of a rescue plan which would see it published on the internet in PDF form by its main funder, Foras na Gaeilge.


The nub of its current problems arise from mounting costs associated with printing and distribution and, it has to be said, the failure to get any state advertising north of the border due to concerted attack by unionist parties on the Irish language and the failure of nationalist parties to effectively defend it.

As a means of tiding it over until the political climate turned slightly in its favour Lá Nua proposed to Foras na Gaeilge that it would publish on the internet only on a daily basis, with a weekly omnibus print edition to be distributed among subscribers and from Irish language centres such as the Cultúrlann in Belfast and similar centres throughout Ireland.

Foras na Gaeilge didn't respond to this proposal until it was announced on the paper's front page on Monday morning. It was intended to begin on March 3 and given that Lá Nua has pioneered the PDF edition in Ireland and now it can be read in full animated technicolour it wasn't an entirely unreasonable or unattractive proposition. The PDF version can also, of course, be printed and in this greener climate it actually might not be a bad idea that newspapers were only printed as required, particularly when it's a newspaper in a minority language we're talking about.

Post haste an email was despatched from Foras na Gaeilge headquarters to point out that this proposal breached the contract Lá Nua has with its main funder and if LN were s to go ahead with this proposal the Foras would be compelled to halt payment of the remainder of the grant aid.

As the Belfast Media Group, LN's 50% shareholder, projected it would be left with an unpaid print bill of £100,000 by the end of 2008 if it were to continue, protective notice would be issued it warned LN"s ten employees yesterday.

Lá Nua won the contract to publish a daily Irish language news publication after a public competition in which the only other contending bid came from the Irish News. It did so in the expectation that it would attract a small - but significant - amount of public notice advertising from Executive Departments. The actual grant itself wasn't a significant advance on its then funding of £150,000 approx per year. The new grant aid amounted to £200,000 per year.

In September the Ulster Unionist Health Minister Michael McGimpsey announced that his department would be discontinuing any Irish language advertising. This would lead to a saving to his department of £150,000 per year. Not that Lá Nua was getting a fraction of that business - perhaps ten percent - as most of it was being spent senselessly on bilingual advertisements in the Belfast Telegraph and the Irish News.

SInce September, we have seen the further filleting of the Irish language budget as the Irish Language Act proposal was shelved and, most significantly, the funding for the Irish Language Broadcast Fund would be ended following the conclusion of its four year term in March 2009, it was uncovered by Lá Nua in advance of the budget's publication (even in draft form).

This is of course all part of the DUP and, in lesser part, the UUP anti Irish language agenda. Or perhaps it's about ensuring that the Irish language is reduced to the same level of Ulster Scots, those parties' version of equality.

But the nationalist parties shouldn't feel smug about this either Both Sinn Féin and the SDLP hold ministries which would be reasonably expected to publish some public ads for the Irish language community and Lá Nua would be the natural - and most economic - media in which to do this. This hasn't happened. Coupled with this the nationalist parties failed to defend effectively against the ending of the Irish Language Broadcast Fund, a failure to which they are being held account in Lá Nua and Lá Nua alone.

Like Lá Nua or not, it was the only media in which the Irish language could be read afresh on a daily basis. More and more now the Irish language will only be read in official documents translated from English. Needless to say the official documents aren't read in English.

The threatened closure of Lá Nua follows in the heels of the decision by Foras na Gaeilge to cease funding the Irish language magazine Comhar, the monthly literary and political periodical which first gave the likes of Máirtín Ó Cadhain a platform.

It would be a consolation to think that Lá Nua's place at the front line of Irish language journalism will be taken by a newspaper such as the Irish News but as the Foras moves exceedingly slow in these matters, the Irish language community and wider fans of Irish (Lá Nua's internet PDF edition was attracting a readership of up to 30,000 per month, coupled with sales of approximately 2,000 copies per day) may have to do without for a considerable time.

It's my view that the only viable way forward for publishing in Irish is on the internet in the form suggested by Lá Nua and what will finally be provided will be what Lá Nua proposed, an internet edition which can be read in PDF form as well as in news site form. There simply is no space on the shelves of newsagents crowded with English language newspapers and magazines for an Irish language oddity.

Perhaps the Foras has a greater vision - but they haven't unveiled it as yet. It's also a pity that Lá Nua is to bow out at this stage, having survived the Troubles and political vetting and other misfortunes (such as the burning (accidental) of its base office in the 1980s.

It's my hope that this serves as a wake up call to the Irish language establishment. The public doesn't need Irish language versions of unread annual reports (though annual reports from Foras na Gaeilge from 2003 to the present day would be useful), if Irish is to survive as a language of literature it needs newspapers not unlike Lá Nua and others, it needs Irish language magazines about subjects ranging from gardening to amateur photography. People who are interested in Irish are interested in the same wide spectrum of interests of English langauge and Italian Languae (and onwards) speakers.

Perhaps the board of Foras na Gaeilge will be able to do something about this. They could start by convening an emergency meeting in February to see whether there's any way out of this situation if only to tide it over until a new contract can be tendered for. If they wait until March, their next scheduled meeting, it will be too late. The least Lá Nua and the Irish langauge community deserves is that courtesy.

[geraghd]

Perhaps the main issue is lack of readers rather than anything else?

[LiamORaiste]

Actually the readership is increasing - but it is admittedly low in comparison to English language newspapers. To combat difficulties in distribution - the newspaper was never going to get shelf space in newsagents which are choc a bloc with English language magazines of all hues and of indifferent quality.

The English language media have had a 100 year head start on the Irish language media and it will take time to catch up. Either way there are MORE people reading Irish in Lá Nua every day than they Irish in any other media. That's a fact.

At a time when the Irish Government is spending a fortune on translating documents which are unread in English into Irish so that they may be unread in both official languages, that's a travesty.

As a conservative, I thought that you would understand the importance of conserving culture and language. Even a British conservative would be more tolerant I would have thought.

[diy01]

This would certainly be quite a blow to the language. Quite surprising, really. I hope to read more about this in the coming days.

[905]

At a time when the Irish Government is spending a fortune on translating documents which are unread in English into Irish so that they may be unread in both official languages, that's a travesty.

That's a very good point.

[restless]

It's all part of a demand building up for a proper Irish language Act and proper respect for the language. The longer the Northern authorities refuse to act the stronger will be the Act when it does come. Sometimes one wonders if unionists ever learn.

[bradán feasa]

This is a disaster for the Irish Language movement in Ireland. A campaign needs to be developed to prevent this regressive step. Any ideas how this could be organised?

[diy01]

Surely there is enough room in Ireland for an Irish language daily!? A closure would be very telling.

Is there anything readers can do? I thought the readership level was in the 5,000-7,000 range.

[Darren Mac an Phríora]

I was told by someone working there that the 'paper sold around 3,500 copies- around 1,000 of which were used in schools.

The biggest problem for Lá Nua is that the 'paper is largely focused on the North- and that and it gives Sinn Féin good coverage, which is not surprising given that it is owned by the Anderstown News Group.

That said the 'paper has some good journalists and columnists. I look forward to the day when we have a larger daily 'paper that is not mainly focused on one part of the island but which rather covers the 32 counties and abroad equally.

[andrew]

A campaign needs to be developed to prevent this regressive step. Any ideas how this could be organised?

Getting people to buy it?