The ULTACH Trust ( ga, Iontaobhas ULTACH) is a
charitable trust established in 1989 aimed at promoting the
Irish language
Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...
in Northern Ireland. Its former director was
Aodán Mac Póilin
Aodán Mac Póilin (1948 – 29 December 2016) was an Irish language activist in Northern Ireland.
Background
Aodán Mac Póilin was born in Belfast and grew up in Norfolk Road in the Andersonstown area. His father worked as a civil servant a ...
and is now Róise Ní Bhaoill.
Name
The word ''Ultach'' means 'person from
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kin ...
' but in the case of the organisation it is also a
backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
for 'Ulster Language, Traditions And Cultural Heritage', therefore the organisation's title appears in capital letters.
History
The principal aim of the organisation is to promote the Irish language throughout the entire community of Northern Ireland. A core objective is to encourage cross-community involvement in the language, and the membership of the Board of Trustees reflects both major religious traditions. The offices of ULTACH are also located in 'neutral' Belfast city centre to facilitate visits by members of all sections of the community.
Originally supported by both the Central Community Relations Unit, a branch of the
Department of Finance and Personnel
The Department of Finance (DoF, ga, An Roinn Airgeadais, Ulster-Scots: ''Männystrie o Siller'') is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the departme ...
in Northern Ireland, and by the
Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...
, the Trust is currently core-funded by
Foras na Gaeilge
(, " Irish Institute"; ) is a public body responsible for the promotion of the Irish language throughout the island of Ireland, including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It was set up on 2 December 1999, assuming the role ...
, the Irish-language agency of
The North/South Language Body
The North/South Language Body ( ga, An Foras Teanga Thuaidh/Theas; Ulster-Scots: ''Tha Noarth/Sooth Boord o Leid'' or ''The Language Curn'')funding body
Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm uses ...
in Northern Ireland. Since 1990, the organisation has distributed approximately £1.5 million in grant-aid to hundreds of Irish language projects. Approximately 50% of this funding was allocated to the Irish-medium education sector, and most of the rest was used to support the voluntary sector.
As a consequence of the
Good Friday Agreement
The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...
of 1998, structural changes were implemented to support the Irish language in Northern Ireland. The Trust now tends to concentrate its resources on in-house projects and partnerships with other organisations rather than grants. The following list summarises the Trust's current key areas of activity: engaging in cross-community work; developing learning resources; forming strategic partnerships with relevant community, research, educational and statutory agencies; advising government and statutory agencies on language planning and policy issues; campaigning for the establishment of an Irish-language broadcasting sector in Northern Ireland; publishing material on the Irish language and related issues; working towards an effective Irish language arts policy for Northern Ireland; initiating innovative language projects; and funding Irish language projects.
Irish in Northern Ireland
The Irish language can be a controversial and contentious issue in Northern Ireland. Through its cross-community work, the Trust seeks to stimulate interest in Irish across the political and religious divide, and to provide opportunities to learn and use the language in areas and among communities which are not normally associated with it.
The experiences of contemporary Protestant learners of the language are recorded on the website. Some of the results of this research are available on-line at the trust's website. Other board and staff members have explored the hidden tradition of Protestant involvement with Irish in the past. The Trust seeks to identify obstacles to Protestant and unionist engagement with the language and to raise awareness within the Catholic and nationalist community to the difficulties experienced by learners from other traditions.
Projects
In its work in developing learning resources, the Trust was involved in the development of ''Now You’re Talking'', the first multi-media Irish language teaching pack to use the Ulster dialect. The 30 half-hour television programmes have been shown on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. The Trust is now attempting to secure copyright for the course to ensure its continued publication. The Trust commissioned and published, in conjunction with the
, two volumes of ''Abair Leat!,'' a guide for teachers of adult learners of Irish. ULTACH staff also produce ''Taisce Focal'', a learners' supplement for the on-line Irish language magazine ''BEO!'
This series aims to expose intermediate and advanced learners to the natural colloquial Irish of the Gaeltacht. In response to numerous requests, the Trust has published a selection of these articles in book form, with two accompanying CDs.
Through lectures, conferences, articles, reports, submissions to statutory bodies and occasional publications, the Trust has sought to stimulate debate on a number of topics. These have included themes such as education, cross-community access, cultural politics, history, Irish language arts, and cultural links with Gaelic Scotland.
The Trust is particularly active in the area of Irish-medium broadcasting and has been campaigning to persuade the arts establishment to provide adequate funding, support and evaluative structures for Irish language arts in Northern Ireland.