Kneecap launch Go Fund Me campaign for Irish language youth facility in West Belfast

Kneecap arrive in Ballymurphy to present £7000 cheque to young people fundraising for new flagship Irish medium youth and community facility, Croí na Carraige

February 26, 2025

0 957 4 minutes read

The high profile and award winning Irish language rap band, Kneecap, landed into Ballymurphy this lunchtime (27 Feb 2025) to present young people from the Glór na Móna youth project with £7,000 cheque to launch their Go Fund Me campaign for a new flagship youth and community facility, Croí na Carraige. Having won £14,000 in a court case against the British Government due to discrimination, Kneecap announced before Christmas that they were donating £7,000 to Glór na Móna and £7,000 to another youth organization on the Shankill Road.

Based on the Whiterock Road, Glór na Móna’s current facility An Ghael Ionad, has built a reputation both nationally and internationally as a ground-breaking community hub for grassroots language regeneration, and Irish-medium youth work which has become a vital component of the burgeoning Irish language network across the city. An Ghael Ionad facilitated significant growth and expansion in Glór na Móna’a community project delivery and necessitated the growing demand for a second phase capital proposal which aims to build and further develop their ambitious vision on the vacant council land adjacent to the centre. The project, known as Croí na Carraige (Heart of the Rock) has secured £1 million funding but with phase one costing around £1.6m, time is running out to secure the additional funding needed to get the work started this year. In the absence of any capital support from Government departments in the North for the new build, Glór na Móna have now launched their own Go Fund Me campaign which Kneecap launched today with their donation:

Speaking on behalf of Glór na Móna, Youth Co-ordinator, Pádraigin Nic Mhathúna stated:

“On behalf of everyone at Glór na Móna we want to say a huge Go raibh míle maith agaibh to Kneecap for their incredibly generous donation. This donation will go a long way in supporting our ambitious plans for the future and our flagship Irish-medium capital project Croí na Carraige which we are currently fundraising for at present.

“We have planning permission to build a purpose-built youth, community and heritage facility on the site- Croí na Carraige. We have been successful in securing £1 million of capital funds, which includes £500,000 from Belfast City Council who own the land and have a design team in place. We also have funding from the Ciste, Irish Language Investment Fund and the Shared Island Fund. Phase One of the building is coming in at about £1.6m so we are £600k short. Department for Communities and the Department of Education have told us they have no money but we believe the funding is there if those with power and responsibility make our young people a priority. We are at breaking point. We cater for over 200 young Gaels every week and our current facilities here are simply not big enough for our youth projects. It’s over 27 years after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and our young people are still being housed in temporary cabins. The lack of facilities here and space are really hindering the development of our young people and the expansion of our services to meet their needs. It is simply not good enough. We can’t wait about any longer and need to raise this money ourselves. We would ask people across the country and across the world to follow Kneecap’s lead and donate to help us build this crucial community facility”.

Echoing this call for support, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh stated:

‘Glór na Móna’s youth club was really where it all began for me over 15 years ago in the old Base at the top of the Whiterock road. This is where the language became a central part of my life and I felt the power of language reconquest. I’ve said before that without Glór na Móna there would be no Kneecap and the massive impact of their work with young people is why we chose to support them when we robbed the king’s purse in courts.

“It is a total disgrace that these confident and articulate young Gaels are still being held in Portacabins like I was when I went to school on the same site back in the 90s. Those in power should be embarrassed and ashamed that young people in Ballymurphy need to fundraise to get the facilities they deserve. We are only too happy to launch this campaign and ask all our friends and supporters to donate generously to the Croí an Carraige project which will help transform this community.”

Also in attendance was one of Glór na Móna’s founders and newly elected president of Conradh na Gaeilge, Ciarán Mac Giolla Bhéin, who stated:

“Glór na Móna is an exemplar for language planning and regeneration from the bottom up and their methodology and approach provides inspiration to language groups and activists across the country. We have been promised a new dispensation in relation to the Irish language since the Good Friday Agreement and particularly since the passing of the Irish Language Act in 2022 and while progress has been made it is outrageous that so many vital community projects are under resourced and without the infrastructure to meet the demand of local communities.

“In spite of that, Glór na Móna are rooted in the revolutionary philosophy encapsulated in the famous ‘Na habair é, déan é’ (Don’t talk about it, do it!) and instead of waiting on state bodies to catch up, we have decided to begin the arduous task of fundraising the capital shortfall ourselves. We are incredibly grateful to Kneecap for their generous donation and ongoing support to our campaign.”