SDLP Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan
The programme has grown from strength to strength in the past decade and is co-ordinated locally by Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin.
However, the Department of Education has cut funding for this year bringing an end to the scheme.
Said the Foyle MLA: “I’m hugely disappointed to learn that the Léargas Scheme is the latest provision facing the incredulous cuts within the education sector.
“This is an invaluable initiative which has brought the Irish Language to English Medium Schools for the past decade.
“It has served to cultivate a love of language in the younger generations and equipped them with children skills that will serve them throughout life.
“At a time when the Department of Education should be building on the scheme’s success and increasing investment in Irish Language, it’s difficult to comprehend the decision to axe funding and effectively end this important scheme.
“The decision is devastating and will see a loss to the Irish Language being taught officially in any school outside of Irish medium schools.
“I’m acutely aware that difficult decisions must be made given budget pressures facing the department at this time however, given the value and cultural significance of this scheme. It’s crucial that funding must be secured to ensure its continuation.
“The Léargas scheme connects children in Derry with counterparts in the Irish Medium Sector, with the wider Irish Language community in the city and creates a vision for a Derry in which all identities, languages, and cultural backgrounds are celebrated.
“For ten years, Léargas has connected children in schools across the North with their counterparts in the Irish Medium Sector.
“It has helped to create a more inclusive community which celebrates all identities and languages.
“That legacy must not be lost.
“I’ve written to the Education Permanent Secretary urging intervention to save this scheme.”
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