§ Lord Lairdasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord President on 17 June (WA 81), what were the amounts of the state funding for each newspaper in Northern Ireland in each applicable year. [HL3407]
§ Baroness Amos:Further to the information provided in the answer to WA 81, set out below are details of funding made available by departments of the Northern Ireland administration during the period 1999–2004 for newspaper publishing companies in Belfast.
84WA
Funding of Newspaper Publishing Companies 1999–2004 Company Year Funded
Funder Amount Funded
Andersonstown News 1999 Department of Finance and Personnel £5,095 Preas an Phobail Ltd 2000 1Department of Finance and Personnel/Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister £33,500 Flagship Media Group Ltd 2000 Local Enterprise Development Unit £6,773 The Mirror Group 2000 Department for Employment Learning £5,936 Andersonstown News Group 2000 Department for Social Development £70,000 Andersonstown News 2000 Local Enterprise Development £7,500 Andersonstown News 2000–01 Department for Social Development £277,375
Funding of Newspaper Publishing Companies 1999-2004 Company Year Funded
Funder Amount Funded Preas an Phobail Ltd 2000 Local Enterprise Development Unit £15,000 Preas an Phobail Ltd 2001 Local Enterprise Development Unit £15,026 Flagship Media Group Ltd 2001 Local Enterprise Development Unit £4,500 Shankill Community Media Ltd 2002–04 Department for Social Development £32,544 Shankill Community Media Ltd 2003 Department of Finance and Personnel £95,429 East Belfast Publishing Ltd 2003 Department of Finance and Personnel £250,464 Shankill Community Media Ltd 2004 Invest NI £28,602 1Department of Finance and Personnel had responsibility for funding until December 1999. This then transferred to the office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister under devolution.Funding has been made available to Preas an Phobail by Foras na Gaeilge (the Irish Language Agency of the North/South Implementation Body). Foras na Gaeilge is funded jointly by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) in Northern Ireland and the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs (DCGRA) in the Republic of Ireland. DCAL contributes 25 per cent and DCGRA contributes 75 per cent of funding. During the period 1999–2004 Foras na Gaeilge made available to Preas an Phobail £512,558 for the publication of Lá. DCAL's contribution in each year is provided below.
Company Funding Year
Funder Amount Funded Preas an Phobail Ltd 2000 Foras na Gaeilge £7,936 Preas an Phobail Ltd 2001 Foras na Gaeilge £32,140 Preas an Phobail Ltd 2002 Foras na Gaeilge £30,624 Preas an Phobail Ltd 2003 Foras na Gaeilge £38,988 Preas an Phobail Ltd 2004(covers up to 30 June 2004) Foras na Gaeilge £18,451