Elections to Údarás na Gaeltachta must be re-introduced to “return power to the people” and allow Gaeltacht residents to “elect their own representatives directly to the Údarás board”.
This is the view of Galway West Sinn Féin General Election candidate Mairéad Farrell, who was speaking about her party’s support for the campaign to re-introduce public elections to Údarás. Cumann Forbartha Chois Fharraige, based in Connemara, has begun a campaign to re-introduce the elections.
Elections to the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta were scrapped in 2011 by the Fine Gael-Labour administration. In 2017, SF proposed a Bill in the Seanad to return direct elections back to the board of the authority and it was accepted. A similar Bill put forward in the Dáil again in 2018 was ignored by the Government.
“Elections will make the Údarás more open, democratic and accessible to the people,” said Ms Farrell. ““Sinn Féin in government would put forward a Bill to allow Gaeltacht residents to elect their own representatives directly to the board. We believe this would increase support for the organisation in those Gaeltacht communities.”
