Coimisiún na Meán has today (06.03.2025) awarded €550,000 to deliver training and development initiatives for the Media Sector in Ireland.
Coimisiún na Meán’s Sectoral Learning and Development Programme assists organisations to undertake training, learning and development activities that support the broadcasting and audiovisual industries, and helps realise An Coimisiún’s aim of ensuring a thriving, diverse, safe, creative and trusted media landscape.
Coimisiún na Meán’s Media Development Commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill said: “Coimisiún na Meán is committed to ensuring a media landscape that is sustainable, pluralistic and participative, and that reflects and shapes who we are as a society. The Sectoral Learning and Development Programme underpins our work as it delivers training and development opportunities to those working in the media. By funding these initiatives, we can continue to support sector sustainability and capacity, and the ability of media workers to create content that reflects diverse voices and viewpoints in contemporary Ireland.”
During this round of funding, Coimisiún na Meán received 38 applications seeking a total of €1.2 million. The successful 29 applicants include organisations representing commercial and community media; industry specific groups such as producers, animators, and journalists; and advocacy organisations for gender, equality and inclusion, and promotion of the Irish language. The provision of funding to these organisations enables them to undertake a range of training and development activities, for example workshops, masterclasses, training programmes, seminars, and networking events.
Among the successful applicants awarded funding for 2025 are:
- Craol – funding to support skills qualifications for trainers, workshops on mobile journalism and media production, the annual community radio féile, and other operational activities.
- Ecoscope Limited – funding to support a sustainability demonstration day for electrical departments in film productions.
- Storyhouse – funding to support a script and screen writing programme, and a panel discussion on Irish language film-making as part of the 2025 Storyhouse festival.
- GORM Media – funding to run a training course for early- to mid-career media makers from under-represented groups, and to deliver bite-sized workshops for local communities.
- Mediastrong – funding for a pilot initiative to equip newsroom staff with essential skills to recognise and manage trauma effectively.
- Women in Film and Television – funding to support representation at Berlinale: Power to transform – Global Forum for Women; the Canne Film Festival; and the Greater Later Summit
- Oireachtas na Gaeilge – funding for Gradaim Chumarsáide an Oireachtais, and other Irish language development work.
- Learning Waves Journalism Graduate Programme – funding for internships in commercial radio stations for journalism graduates
A list of successful Sectoral Learning and Development funding recipients for 2025 can be found on our website.
Coimisiún na Meán supports the development of a thriving media sector in Ireland through funding schemes including the Sectoral Learning and Development Programme, Sponsorship Scheme, Sound & Vision Scheme, and through its Journalism Schemes, covering Local Democracy and Courts Reporting.
In 2024, Coimisiún na Meán published the first Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) Strategy for Ireland’s audio and audiovisual media sector, to enhance the diversity of the media sector in Ireland.