The following is a statement from the Board of Coláiste na Mumhan, submitted to The Southern Star.
‘The management of the board of Coláiste na Mumhan has decided to postpone our planned Irish Language Course from summer 2025 to summer 2026 after significant deliberation. We have taken this decision because we did not have sufficient students signed up at this point in time. Our learning model is based around collaboration between the students as well as instruction from our teachers and our current level of sign-ups would not facilitate this approach. Everyone who has applied this year will receive a full refund and will be eligible for a reduced fee for next year’s session.
‘We acknowledge that the reason for the relatively low student numbers this year was down to the nature, scope and timing of our recruitment campaign. To address this we have already designed a full digital marketing plan for next year’s campaign as well as implementing an earlier start. Coláiste na Mumhan have planned to offer some shorter courses this year including a community-based course for young people in the area. We will provide more detail on these as they progress.
‘We are grateful for the support of Údarás na Gaeltachta, government agencies and other organisations that were so helpful this year and we also plan to engage with them and other agencies earlier and more closely for next year’s campaign.
We acknowledge the disappointment that this cancellation will cause to those registered on the course, families and local community and we are fully committed to the reinstatement of the summer college for next year as well as providing a variety of other courses, facilities and events and we will be seeking to recruit a manager to execute our strategic plans.’
