Structural and Functional Problems of Community Development Co-operatives in the Irish Gaeltacht.

Abstract

The Irish-or Gaelic-speaking areas of Ireland (collectively known as the Gaeltacht) are mainly scattered along the western seaboard (Map 1) and currently account for only 2.5 per cent of the national population. Since the acquisition of political independence in 1922, the preservation of the Gaeltacht has held a prominent place in Irish national ideology. However Q while a considerable amount of financial resources has been directed towards achieving this objective, it can be suggested that this has not been matched by an equal amount of imagination. Over the last twenty years, the bulk of these financial resources has been focussed on the economic development of the Gaeltacht, in an effort to stem the rapid population decline which was seen as the principal problem facing the Gaeltacht areas. As with the remainder of the west of Ireland, economic development of the Gaeltacht, as far as the Government was concerned, was essentially equated with industrialisation, and a special state agency (previously Gaeitarra Éireann, now Údarás na Gaeltachta – the Gaeltacht Authority) was established to promote the setting up of manufacturing industry in the Gaeltacht. Initially, the main focus was on attracting externally-based (usually foreign) firms into the Gaeltacht, although in recent years, growing emphasis has been placed on stimulating industrial enterprise indigenous to the Gaeltacht itself. Again, this change of emphasis reflects what has been happening at national level