Fine Gael TD Barry Ward has said that the global success of the Netflix drama House of Guinness should be the impetus for the government to fund Irish language media.
The hit Netflix show (which was pointedly filmed in the UK despite the Irish subject matter) became the first Netflix show to be available with Irish subtitles, and that should be the spark for the government to fund more Irish-language content.
This week’s Budget saw the government commit €60 million in funding to TG4 this year, an increase from the €37.2 million fee from 2020.
Ward said that State agencies are compelled, by law, to produce at least 20% of their advertising through the Irish language and that has had a “tangible” improvement on the day-to-day usage of Irish.
Now, the Dún Laoghaire TD said that the same strategy should be used in terms of what projects the State broadcaster commissions and produces and indeed, what content is on streaming services.
“How are we plugging into that streaming sector to increase the volume of material that is available in Irish for people looking at the likes of Netflix, Apple TV, Prime Video?” he asked.
Ward pointed to the success of the Irish language film An Cailín Ciúin in 2022 as an example of the quality of Irish language productions and the reputational boost it gave Ireland, with the film becoming the first-ever Irish language film to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best International Feature.
He said the success of that film is a “fantastic proof positive of the strength of Irish-language productions and the benefit that comes with it.”
Party colleague, Patrick O’Donovan said he has met the streaming giants on a number of occasions to improve Ireland’s infrastructure as it looks to compete with the United Kingdom as the filming location of choice for major Hollywood productions, and implied that once the suitable infrastructure is in place, the Irish media industry can then seriously consider improving Irish language output.
“We are hoping that through the Programme for Government over the next number of years regional uplift will be given. It was given previously, probably at a really bad time in the context of Covid and everything else. It is something I would certainly like to revisit.”