There is potential for Small Businesses to draw down financial assistance if they use Irish in their materials, signage, etc.
Foras na Gaeilge has put up details on it's site, and the link below goes straight to information on signage.
At a recent meeting of Clonakilty Town Council a motion was unanimously supported on the need for Clonakilty businesses, (particularly new ones), to be more proactive in erecting good quality and if possible, bilingual signage. Cloich na Coillte was once the leader in this, thanks to the Town Council policy of 25 years ago, and people like Tomás Tuipéir, local signwriter and Gaelgóir.
Speaking in support of the motion at that meeting, Cllr. Cionnaith Ó Súilleabháin stated:
"Standards of our shopfronts and business signage have dropped dramatically in the last few years. This is a shame as we were once the leader of this initiative in the country. We in this council have a planning policy of traditional shopfronts made from traditional materials and using traditional, had painted signage, bilingual if possible. We have ample talented and experienced tradespeople who have the skills to carry out this work. Yet in recent years we have seen shabby and often plastic signs erected on business premises. This undoes the great pioneering work carried out in the 1980's and early 1990's when the planners of those times insisted on signage that met the criteria of our development plans. It drew national attention and complimented the tidy towns efforts and the related hanging baskets and window boxes which were tourist attractions in their own right. These policies made Clonakilty different and made us stand out proudly. We need to get back to implementing and enforcing this policy, and I would ask the council management to address the matter immediately"
The council management said they would be carrying out "an audit" of shopfronts in the following weeks, and also would be bringing out a booklet explaining the guidelines for signage and shopfronts in Clonakilty town, and would distribute this to all businesses. Cllr. Ó Súilleabháin said he believed this to be a costly and possibly ineffective method, and proposed the information be posted up on the Town Council section of www.clonakilty.ie which is the towns official website and anyone that wanted to would have immediate access to it there.
This is the link to the application form .........
http://www.irish.ie/ForasNaGaeilge/applicationform_listing.asp?toggle=yes&lang=en&id=15
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