Positive Findings in ILBF Final Evaluation Report | The Irish Film & Television Network

The report, commissioned by the Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure (DCAL), was completed by consultants FGS McClure Watters and covers the 2005-2009 period of the fund. One of the key findings in the report is that, as a result of the ILBF 338 hours of Irish language programming were produced, with the overall quality of programmes decidedly high.

The ILBF has been hugely important in building and sustaining the Irish language independent sector in Northern Ireland, with 94% of production companies stating that the ILBF had been fully or partly responsible for their decision to become involved in the production of Irish language broadcasting.

Furthermore 70% of production companies reported that their turnover had increased as a result of the ILBF. Over 800 Irish speakers have been employed on ILBF funded productions and since the fund started and from April 07 to March 09 the ILBF has spent just over £5 million on 48 projects, with additional funding just shy of £3 million leveraged by production companies to support their projects.

On average, 78% of project budgets have been spent in Northern Ireland and the ILBF training schemes continue to address training needs within the sector and the evaluation reports a 97% satisfaction rate for ILBF training schemes. Finally, the report tells us that 85% of ILBF trainees thus far have secured employment within the production sector on completion of training. The full version of the report is available be clicking here.

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