Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
A MOTHER WHO had paid almost €1,000 for her daughter to attend an Irish-language course has said that she and other parents haven’t been informed about their refunds, and has urged the Galway Gaelcholáiste to get in touch with parents.
The woman enrolled her daughter in Coláiste Cholumba’s July course, but on 20 April, the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht announced that Irish summer college courses would be cancelled this year in the interests of protecting public health during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since late March, this mother says that the An Cheathrú Rua Irish college hasn’t been providing updates to parents about whether they would receive refunds, during what is a very stressful time for families.
“My husband lost his job in March, I have been on unpaid leave and we have three kids,” she said. “This money is badly needed to help cover some bills.”
She has paid €950 in total: a deposit of €250, plus three instalments of €242.33.
Department’s announcement
On 28 May, Minister of State for the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands Seán Kyne, announced a “once-off” emergency measure worth €4.7m package to support the stabilisation of the Gaeltacht Irish summer college sector.
Under the stability fund, up to €3.1m will be directed at supporting the college authorities to refund fees/deposits to parents while a further €1.6m is being allocated under the measure towards offsetting losses incurred by up to 700 certified Gaeltacht householders who normally keep students attending one of the recognised 42 colleges during the summer months.
This €3.07 million fund amounts to a “maximum” payment of €150 per student, or 15% of the total fee.
The Department gives this example in a Q&A document:
If the college has accepted deposits/fees in respect of 500 students up to 20 April and the course fee is €900 per student, the college would be entitled to apply for 15% of the fee (up to €150) in respect of each student under the terms of this initiative, as follows:
€900 @ 15% = €135 x 500 students = €67,500, subject to satisfactory compliance with the conditions of the initiative.
Advertisement
Department of Culture
Department of Culture
The aim of this fund by the Department is to safeguard an industry that teaches 27,000 students annually, provides seasonal employment to 2,200 people in 700 Gaeltacht households, and generates around €50 million annually for Gaeltacht areas.
The Department also says that it hopes the fund will enable Irish colleges “to defray insofar as is reasonably possible, the administrative costs already incurred to date by college authorities”.
It says that this “critically includes the collection of booking deposits/fees from prospective students/parents/guardians and ensure the repayment in full of these deposits/fees to parents/guardians”.
A lack of communication
The mother who spoke to TheJournal.ie says that she doesn’t understand why there is a lack of communication from Coláiste Cholumba, as other colleges have been in touch with parents about the refund process.
When TheJournal.ie tried to call Coláiste Cholumba, an automated message was played with no option to leave a voicemail. When an email was sent to the school, an automated reply was sent with the same message played on the phone:
It was announced last Friday [no specific date mentioned] that the department of the Gaeltacht are providing a stability fund for Irish summer colleges. Once we have received full clarity and details on this we will be in contact with all our customers. We hope to have details to you before the end of the week.
Once again we thank all our customers for their continued support and patience through this difficult process.
One comment on the college’s Facebook page, dated four weeks ago, asks:
“Could we please have an update, no response to email or phone. I have a separate booking with Colaiste na bhFiann and they are in constant contact and processing refunds. An update would be appreciated.”
An email was sent on 18 May to update parents, which acknowledges the “frustration” of parents about “the provision of information to date” and says that “this is not intentional”.
It also says that it “envisages” that the college would be in contact with students by the end of May, or the beginning of June “at the latest”.
We are conscious that our students and parents are seeking clarity regarding this year’s courses in Coláiste Cholumba due to the recent announcement that all Gaeltacht Summer Courses have been cancelled for 2020.
Coláiste Cholumba and our staff have been anxious to consider, formulate and communicate options to our students. In order to do so we require access to records and documents in our office and, like us all, have been frustrated by the lockdown in place, the travel restrictions & the social distancing which will be in place for the near future.
When the more severe restrictions are lifted we will be in a position to examine the options referred to above in order to ascertain which are viable, feasible and practical.
“Once this process is concluded we will make contact with all students & parents to see which option they wish to select. Please note: We envisage that this will be towards the end of May/early June at the latest.”
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
10 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Pope Francis had 'peaceful' night in hospital, Vatican says
Updated
4 hrs ago
14.8k
Kyiv
Zelenskyy says he would resign from Ukrainian presidency 'immediately' for NATO membership
3 mins ago
0
The Morning Lead
People living in illegal cabins - including family forced to dismantle home - tell their stories
16 hrs ago
40.6k
82
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say