Public Benefit Statement
The public benefit that flows from the purpose is the educational benefit of additive bilingualism which improves self-esteem, promotes cultural awareness and tolerance, enhances individuals’ job and recreational opportunities, leads to formal and informal educational qualifications (Diploma, Degree, OCG, GCE/GCSE and Fáinne exams) and integrates the Irish speaking/learning community into the rich cultural fabric of Northern Ireland and beyond.
The benefits are evidenced through frequent internal and external qualitative assessment, including annual participation in the Conradh na Gaeilge and other competitions; registers of and feedback from participants at lessons, courses and events; photo and press coverage, documentation and recordings; audited annual accounts; engagement with and feedback from our Facebook page; and detailed reports to any occasional funders (Foras na Gaeilge, An tOireachtas, Glór na nGael, An Cisate Spreagtha, NMDDC, Community Foundation/Ultach Trust).
The possibility of any harm, for example by physical injury incurred by participation in games and activities for children, is outweighed by the benefit and significantly reduced by the policies and procedures in place to address such risks, for example our Child Protection Policy, Volunteering Policy, Risk Assessments and Health and Safety Guidance and our attentive upkeep of the building and its resources.
The charity’s beneficiaries are the general public in Northern Ireland, the general public in neighbouring border counties (Louth and Monaghan in the main), the wider community of Newry, and visiting language promotional groups. Specific projects may address the needs of discrete sections of society (e.g. those promoting reconciliation in the north or those parents who are raising their children through the medium of Irish or those recently bereaved).
We run graded and structured Irish language classes at 6 levels. We also: mount bilingual educational exhibitions at least once a year organise half-day and one-day intensive courses publish monolingual Irish and bilingual materials assist otheras in pubishing bilingual materials deliver and facilitate lectures participate in Oíche Chultúir encourage readings of new fiction provide for occasional book launches and promote new fiction and non-fiction in Irish support third level students with their research run a book club promote singing and drama and emergent creative writing in and through Irish develop and manage a users’ library of Irish language texts and recordings facilitate the Oriel Traditional Music Archive
promote Local Studies through providing original and historical resources in Irish and English
The only Private benefit flowing from this purpose is that Volunteers will gain advantage from our programme of ongoing training, in the areas of teaching skills, resource preparation, Child Protection, book, paper ephemera and vinyl conservation, and event management skills for example - skills that are transferable to other settings
- albeit this is incidental and necessary to ensure the benefit is provided to our beneficiaries.
Through our training programmes, Volunteers will acquire skills and experience that will directly assist the quality of our provision. Our archive and library continues to expand and these resources are widely shared with community-based educational projects. A major acquisition this year has been a collection of Celtic languages books and journals as donated by a retiring Professor and some additional photographic ephemera of local cultural interest.
Purposes
The purposes of our organisation are: to educate the public in and through the Irish language, and in particular the Irish language as used in its spoken and written modes, by the provision of structured and graded language courses and other formal and informal learning opportunities; to promote and develop the Irish language for the benefit of the public in the area of benefit; to encourage appreciation for, and participation in, bilingual Local Studies activities by people in the area of benefit with a particular focus on the young, unemployed, those new to Irish, returners to education and retired; to encourage and stimulate literacy in the Irish language in the area of benefit by the provision of library and research facilities, bi-literacy training, facilities for book launches, public readings and writing workshops.
Beneficiaries
The beneficiaries are all those who availed of the educational provision and activities provided at the Gaeláras and occasionally online, and those who used our community space. This includes those who availed of a follow-up bespoke Absolute Beginners’ class (September 2025) and our re-issued Faigh Fáinne Caith Fáinne course with online audio support. Others who benefitted received free promotional print and other materials in Irish and English through the post. The local and wider community, nonIrish speaking, benefitted from the educational materials available from the users’ library, especially the local history section (some of which appears in a bilingual feature in a local newspaper on a frequent basis), and from free copies of educational literature. Vulnerable adults are catered for with one to one provision as suits their needs. Those reaching fluency in Irish are especially catered for and received bespoke support over ten weeks. Others who benefitted included the OTMA volunteers who help to catalogue resources and edit online content. Overall, the beneficiaries included those whose personal self-esteem, cultural confidence, awareness and tolerance, and cognitive development have been enhanced through Additive Bilingualism.
Activities
The public benefit of our educational benefit of additive bilingualism was evidenced in a number of ways. We promoted cultural awareness especially through our good relations and wider educational activities which included: exhibitions of Omeath Gaeltacht photos (at locations north and south); an exhibition of new acquisitions; two bespoke Grammar courses for those on A1 and B1 on the CEFR grid; support for teaching drama in the Bunscoil; book promotions during Seachtain na Gaeilge; another history tour of Saint Patrick’s CoE Graveyard and new tours of Saint Mary’s and North Louth; active engagement with heritage promotion in South Armagh including cultural events in Tí Chulainn, Lislea and Camloch; an extension of our ‘hinterland’ approach to supporting other groups that took in Muirhevnamor in
Dundalk (the Cuidigh Linn Project); assiting with hosting a traditional music evening; support for adults studying post A Level Irish; ongoing co-operation with Newry Bosco, Tomás Dáibhis CLG and Shane O’Neill’s GAC in provision of learning materials and in organisation of events; continuing provision of courses to 6 levels in the Newry Gaeláras; support for our online language resource entitled Faigh FáinneCaith Fáinne; ongoing support for our two part courses Déanfaidh sin an Gnó; an exhibition of Irish grammar books; sustained engagement with the Omeath-Lislea based Project ‘Oirialla a Thugann Sinn le Chéile – Oriel Connects Us’; collaboration with the Tiom Dunn Summer School (Rostrevor). Cataloguing work relating to the archive continues. We have assisted in the publishing of An tUltach magazine and cards for occasions. We participated in the Scottish Seachdain na Gàidhlig as a registered group offering a range of leasrning experiences.
We have run Leabhra-Feabhra activities; sponsored prizes for Bunscoil and Naíscoil pupils and supported the school library through donations; assisted with/hosted Christmas Plays, Ulster Scots Day and History Day; sponsored learning free resources to those expressing interest (cross-border and international); hosted meetings of diverse language and community-based groups; invested in our library stock and storage; and maintained our provision of educational materials for the local press, concentrating increasingly on articles/features that include Ulster Scots interests.
Achievements
Classes are well attended and the teaching volunteers are reliable. Our Facebook (2916 followers) is still growing and the number of post views/shares has increased. Our cataloguing system/programme has seen the addition of some new storage. We are open to the public more hours, provide more one-to-one support; promote local festivals and commemorations; develop our evolving marketing through our Oifigeach Forbartha Gnó. Our booklet Faigh-Fáinne Caith Fáinne has been distributed widely and had its sixth reprint recently. Déanfaidh sin an Gnó Part 2 materials remain free on Newry.ie and gaelaras.ie A new support booklet I dTreo Fáinne Óir has been re-published with associated online sound files. The rare items in the archive have been augmented. Our outreach has been extended and has seen us involved with Drumalane Community Association, Restorative Justice Newry, Dundalk Gaelic League, Omeath Historical Society, the University of Ulster, Dáil na Mumhan, St. Michael’s PS Cillín, Newry Maritime Association, Newry Public Library, Oriel Connects Us, Tom Dunn Summer School, Michael Murphy Winter School, Newry Foresters and the Newry Museum.
Restrictions on who can benefit
Our planned events are all free at entry – lectures, exhibitions, one-day courses, competitions, guided tours of the Gaeláras, access to our resources and archives. We endeavour to do almost everything bilingually though this is not realistic at times if we are stressing the total immersion approach to second language learning. Any monolingual events are advertised as such as a matter of policy and practice, or a level of fluency is indicated (CEFR). Activities involving Irish Medium Educational Sector children are always conducted through the medium of Irish only as we seek to provide cross-generational language role-models for the children. Wider bone fide community groups and other cultural groups can use our premises free of charge.
Private benefit
The only Private benefits are that Volunteers, participants and visitors will gain advantage from our programme of ongoing training, for example in the area of book conservation and cataloguing, up-skilling linguistically in preparation for public examinations (A Level/Diploma/Degree/TICO/Garda Entrance), in researching and producing bilingual promotional literature and developing event management skills, in teaching an adult class, in promoting publications - skills that are transferable to other settings - though this is incidental and necessary to ensure the benefit is provided to our beneficiaries.
Statement of compliance
In setting our objectives and planning our activities for the year the trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance on public benefit to ensure that the activities have helped to achieve the charity’s educational purposes and provide a benefit to the beneficiaries.