2025-04-30-annual-report - CNAG Teoranta Limited

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CNAG TEORANTA LIMITED

(Private company limited by guarantee without share capital) TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3O APRIL 2025

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report)

The Trustees present their annual report together with the financial statements of the company for the 01 May 2024 to 30 April 2025.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial statements and comply with the company's governing document, the Companies Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practices applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)" (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2019)

Structure, Governance and Trustees

CNAG Teoranta Limited which is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, was incorporated as a company limited by guarantee in Northern Ireland, registration number NI637586, with the objective of undertaking charitable activities for the benefit of the inhabitants of Northern Ireland.

Objectives and Activities

Conradh na Gaeilge is the democratic forum for the Irish-speaking community. Conradh has over 200 branches and numerous individual members registered around the world, members that work hard to promote the use of Irish in their own areas. Conradh na Gaeilge was established by Douglas Hyde, Eoin Mac Néill, and their colleagues on the 31st of July 1893. Conradh na Gaeilge founded the company CNAG TEO and this company is charged and has responsibility with the development of Conradh na Gaeilge in the north of Ireland. CNAG TEO is a leading Irish language organisation in the north that continues to work with community groups, government departments and local bodies to ensure the voices and demands of the language community are heard and represented in forums and spaces that affect the decision making process in relation to language matters.

The organisation runs Irish-language courses; advocates for the language rights of Irishspeakers; raises awareness about the language; hosts the international Irish-language festival Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia; manages the Irish-language information hub PEIG.ie and delivers on a wide range of programmes and projects.

Committee appointment

Conradh na Gaeilge has a board of directors trustees that oversee and direct the programme of work in the north. They meet on a quarterly basis throughout the year. year we had one new director appointed to our board.

CNAG TEORANTA LIMITED

(Private company limited by guarantee without share capital) TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3O APRIL 2025

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report)

2024 - 2025 has been hugely successful for us as an organisation and we have shown resilience following another year of no increase in budgets from Foras na Gaeilge but have diversified our funding. In an uncertain time and era we have increased our income and diversified our revenue from additional resources and continue to work to attract private and state income. We have secured income from the Department of Foreign affairs Reconciliation Fund, Community Foundation NI, Cooperation Ireland and Foras na Gaeilge and Belfast City Council. We hope to secure additional funding in 2026 and from additional resources. Belfast City Council are now of our leading funders supporting our Seachtain na Gaeilge festival and human rights work in Belfast.

People and place

The Ár Logainmneacha Comhroinnte - People & Place project has continued to grow as one of our key areas of awareness raising across the province of Ulster. This year, with support from the Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund, we have expanded the project to incorporate school workshops, community group workshops, a new online video series and the development and print of a new, bilingual place-names booklet which focuses on the rich meaning, stories and heritage related to the place-names on the Belfast Hills. This booklet also compliments our ongoing and growing partnership with The National Trust, and has enhanced collaborations such as bilingual walking tours of Dubhais with local experts such as Ciarán MacGiolla Bhéin. We have also secured additional funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to build upon our work with local schools through the Ár Logainmneacha Comhroinnte: Celebrating People & Place through Song where we will work with local schools from different backgrounds on the shared heritage of our native placenames.

Communications

Conradh na Gaeilge has worked continuously on developing strong and trustworthy social media platforms, ensuring that member branches of the organisation and the broader community and public can receive regular updates on the advocacy and community programmes and campaigns being promoted by Conradh na Gaeilge. Conradh na Gaeilge has produced a series of informative campaign videos and graphics throughout the year regarding language rights, language policies in local councils, the appointment process of the Irish language commissioner and regular updates regarding both domestic legislation and international human rights treaties. Regarding print medi, digital and broadcast media, Conradh na Gaeilge has been interviewed, quoted or mentioned over 400 times in this period, on both a national and international level.

CNAG TEORANTA LIMITED

(Private company limited by guarantee without share capital) TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3O APRIL 2025

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report)

Research & Policy development

We have continued making significant headway in the area of research and policy development this year; we worked closely, making representations and responding to consultations in a number of local councils, including Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Belfast City Council and Newry Mourne and Down District Council, Ards and North Down about street signage policies, equality schemes, language strategies and bespoke language policies. We too have engaged extensively with Causeway Coast and Glens who are currently in the process of bringing a review of their dual language street signage policy. We too conducted and published comprehensive research into applications for dual language street signage in Belfast City Council which gained a lot of traction. Our work continues with the Department for Infrastructure and Economy regarding their own Irish language policies.

Spraoi

Conradh na Gaeilge administers the SPRAOI programme for students in secondary schools across the north. The scheme provides financial support with registration fees for young people in secondary education to attend residential Irish language summer courses in the Donegal Gaeltacht. The scheme is competitive and is oversubscribed. Conradh na Gaeilge reports directly to cross-border agency Foras na Gaeilge regarding the uptake, administration and financial oversight of the scheme. Duplication with other state-funded scholarship schemes is avoided through regular communication with other bodies, however GDPR guidelines make this more difficult. The scheme is published on the Conradh na Gaeilge website and shared around all secondary schools in the north that offer Irish language up to GCSE. The scheme in 2024-25 was also means-tested as a priority criteria.

Seachtain na Gaeilge Béal Feirste Ó thuaidh

Seachtain na Gaeilge, the largest Irish-language festival in the world, attracts around one million participants annually and offers an inclusive programme for all ages, backgrounds, and levels of Irish. This year in Belfast, Conradh na Gaeilge delivered an extensive 17-day programme supported by community partners and Belfast City Council, featuring 55 events across more than 20 venues and engaging several thousand participants citywide. Activities ranged from family fundays and workshops to concerts, comedy nights, and panel

widely regarded as a significant showcase of the strength and vibrancy of the Irish-language community, generating strong momentum for the programme.

Our flagship event, Spraoi Cois Lao, held in the heart of the city, attracted over 6,000

attendees, surpassing expectations and reaffirming the strong public appetite for large, familyfriendly Irish-language celebrations. Overall, Seachtain na Gaeilge 2025 strengthened reputation as a key hub of Irish-language cultural activity.

CNAG TEORANTA LIMITED

(Private company limited by guarantee without share capital) TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3O APRIL 2025

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report)

Dearg.ie

Our online organising platform has continued to go from strength to strength over the last year, continuing to host regular blog-style articles, to send monthly newsletters to over 2,000 subscribers and to host merchandise in preparation for the national Irish language and Gaeltacht protest in September. Our website continues to play a transformational role in inspiring and broadening public participation in key decisions and policies, with our most recent tool supporting an Irish language policy in Belfast City Council, titled Bilingual Béal Feirste, contributing to over 15,000 responses in what was later declared the largest ever response to a local council consultation.

Irish language rights - Dream

An Dream Dearg plays a central role in advocating for Irish-language rights in the north, mobilising communities and creating visible impactful campaigns that drive political and social change. Its grassroots organising has delivered key successes, including the Grand Central dual language signage campaign in Belfast, which highlighted the need for parity of esteem and equal treatment for Irish in public spaces. The movement has also been instrumental in drawing attention to the funding crisis in Foras na Gaeilge, ensuring sustained pressure for proper investment in the language sector. It has also successful secured a number of policy and legal changes across the north including Belfast development of an Irish language policy. An Dream Dearg is now working towards the major CEARTA march in Dublin this September, demonstrating its all-island reach and the growing strength of the language-rights movement. empowered community it continues to build. The movement remains at the core of Conradh language activism across the island.

Irish language strategy

The Irish language strategy is a legal duty set out in the NI Act 1998 under Section 28(D). Conradh na Gaeilge has taken two successful Judicial Reviews against the Executive on their failure to implement an Irish Language Strategy, in 2017 and 2022. Conradh na Gaeilge holds the position of Co-Chair of the Co-Design Group which continued to work through 2024, following the re-establishment of the Excecutive, on a draft narrative document, which was completed in the autumn of 2024. The draft-Strategy Action plan had been previously agreed by the CDG in October 2023. Preparatory work for a Third Judicial Review was initiated in 2024 and that legal process is expected to run into 2025 and 2026. Conradh na Gaeilge alongside other members of the CDG continued to engage with the Department for Communities, the Minister and the Committee for Communities, appearing in front of the Committee to give evidence regarding the delays to the strategy and the potential for further legal action.

Belfast Irish language policy

This year, Belfast City Council conducted a comprehensive consultation on an Irish language policy for the first time ever, a change which would completely transform the linguistic landscape of the entire city.

CNAG TEORANTA LIMITED

(Private company limited by guarantee without share capital) TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3O APRIL 2025

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report)

Conradh na Gaeilge engaged extensively in this process, inputting meaningfully in the design phase of the policy itself, attending numerous meetings with the Irish language stakeholder forum, encouraging wider participation from the public on the consultation itself, submitting a Strategic Policy and Resources Committee regarding this policy. All of this accumulated in the council adopting one of the most minority-compliant policies on the island in October 2025.

Oireachtas 2025

Oireachtas na Samhna is the annual festival celebrating the Irish language, bringing together thousands of singers, storytellers, performers, writers, and community groups from across Ireland. Founded in 1897, it is a cornerstone of Irish-language culture, showcasing traditional arts such as sean-nós singing, agallamh beirte and scéalaíocht, alongside contemporary events, debates, book launches and gatherings that strengthen the Irish-speaking community.Its arrival in Belfast is highly significant. The city now hosts one of the most vibrant and fast-growing Irish-language communities on the island, and welcoming the Oireachtas highlights that success on a national stage. It represents progress, visibility, and confidence for the language in the North, as well as economic and cultural benefits for Belfast itself. Conradh

Céad Míle Fáilte

Céad Míle Fáilte is an exciting project which celebrates our diverse multi-cultural and multilingual society. We run language classes, cultural workshops and events to introduce An Ghaeilge to our new communities across Ireland. We work with on-the-ground community groups across the country to promote inclusion and empowerment through the sharing of our native languages. In Belfast and Derry this year we delivered a programme of 40 Irish classes and multiple supplementary cultural events with approximately 40 people from the migrant communities of Belfast and Derry. These were in partnership with Belfast City of Sanctuary and North West Migrants Forum and received very positive feedback with demand for further classes in 2026. On 1st November we hosted 50 Céad Míle Fáilte participants from across Ireland to come together with our Belfast group at a special bespoke programme of events at Oireachtas na Samhna in Belfast. In March 2025, we partnered with ArtsEkta (directors of Belfast Mela) at the Spraoi Cois Lao event on a multi-cultural performance to encourage newcomer communities to engage and to educate the Irish-language community on the Chinese Year of the Snake.

Going Concern

After making appropriate enquiries, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements. Further details regarding the adoption of the going concern basis can be found in the Accounting Policies.

CNAG TEORANTA LIMITED

(Private company limited by guarantee without share capital) TRUSTEES' REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3O APRIL 2025

Trustees' Annual Report (Incorporating the Director's Report)

Financial Review

The results for the year ended 30 April 2025 are set out on pages 10 and 11 of the financial statements.

The total income for the year ended 30 April 2025 amounted to £373,751 (2024:£340,741). The total expenditure was £345,887 (2024:£238,485 )

The Trustees consider that the unrestricted funds of the charity is sufficient and adequate to fulfil their obligations. The charity held £120,324 in reserves at the year end (2024:£113,293).

Reserves Policy

The income of the Company is considered adequate and the risks associated with any significant reduction in income is regarded as unlikely. The Trustees are satisfied with the current level of reserves at the present time. The Trustees are reviewing the Reserves Policy in the current year.

Trustees' responsibilities statement

The Trustees (who are also directors of CNAG Teoranta Limited for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standard (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice)

Company law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the income resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
Observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
Make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company's transaction and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and the enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2016. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

CNAG Teoranta Limited is a company limited by guarantee by its Memorandum and Articles of Association. Each members liability is limited to an amount not exceeding £1.

This report was approved by the Trustees, on 19/12/2025 and signed on behalf by:

Ciaran Mac Giolla Bhein Trustee