Breathnach, Proinnsias (2012) Structural and Functional Problems of Community Development Co-operatives in the Irish Gaeltacht. In: Anniversary Essays: Forty Years of Geography in Maynooth. National University of Ireland Maynooth, pp. 116-130. ISBN 9780992746605

Preview

Download (250kB) | Preview

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

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	First published in Ó Cearbhaill, D. (1986) The organisation and development of local initiative, 8th International Seminar on Marginal Regions, University College Galway, pp.78-108
Keywords:	Structural Problems; Functional Problems; Community Development; Co-operatives; Irish Gaeltacht; Anniversary Essays; Geography; Maynooth;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography
Item ID:	5588
Depositing User:	Proinnsias Breathnach
Date Deposited:	04 Dec 2014 17:35
Publisher:	National University of Ireland Maynooth
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

Repository Staff Only(login required)

Item control page

Downloads

Origin of downloads