The North / South Language Body Annual Report & Accounts 2009

The Committee for the Irish Books Programme had five meetings during2009.Other Projects: Business ResearchThe comprehensive programme of basic research was continued into the useof Irish in the business context and the preparation for the development of anew electronic service for business people (which is now available throughwww.gaeilge.ie/gno) in which there is a specialised archive with pictures,videos and other examples of the use of Irish in a business context, relateddocuments on the business case for Irish, downloadable templates of businessmaterials, related extracts from the business media, and an on line self-orderservice for the Foras’s support materials and aids for the businesscommunity.Foras na Gaeilge continued, in partnership with business partners, tocommission research in respect of the advantages and implementation ofIrish within the business sector. As part of the business research programmeTNS were commissioned to carry out again in 2009 an annual all-island ‘Irishin Business’ survey (which has been carried out yearly since 2005) and theresearch was continued in co-operation with the Institute for MinorityEnterprise (Dublin Institute of Technology) on the use of Irish within thebusiness sector; the second stage of the research was continued with an Irishlanguage mentor on the development of a seal of recognition ‘Q-Marc Gnó leGaeilge’ for participants from the business sector who use Irish; basicresearch was continued with Creative Communication into good practice inthe use of bilingualism on (i) Signage, (ii) Documentation, (iii) Internet /Electronic Site and (iv) Packaging; co-partnership research was begun withMicrosoft and The Board of Welsh to create templates for on line documentsand make them available through Office Online.Other Projects: The transfer of ‘Colmcille’At a meeting of the North / South Ministerial Council (NSMC) on 4 July2008, it was decided to transfer Colmcille to Foras na Gaeilge and that apartnership with Bord na Gàidhlig would be set up to bring the projectforward from 1 April 2009. The NSMC agreed that the funding for theColmcille programme would be shared as follows: two thirds for Foras naGaeilge; and one third for Bord na Gàidhlig. Iomairt Cholmcille was acharity registered in Scotland and because of that had to be wound upvoluntarily. The charity was wound up voluntarily on 20 March 2010. A jointcommittee for the Colmcille programme was set up on which there werethree board members from Foras na Gaeilge and two from Bord na Gaidhlig.Colmcille is included in the financial accounts for the year ended 31December 2009 as is set out in FRS 9 ‘Associates and Joint Ventures.’ As aresult, the assets, liabilities and cash flow are included in the financialaccounts of the Language Body in accordance with the decision which wastaken at the level of the NSMC on 4 July 2008.43