Deaf News: Irish Deaf Society to restructure following financial issues

The Irish Deaf Society (IDS) has announced that it is to update its governance structures, as the ongoing funding issues faced by the charity continue.

It comes after IDS announced that it was facing a “financial crisis” and would be forced to shut down in March.

In an update, the charity thanked supporters for their patience and said: “In addition to the funding we receive from Solas and Pobal, we were hoping that we could identify one or more state organisations that could provide us with further annual funding of €300,000.

“We met with Government officials, from the Department of An Taoiseach and Minister Finian McGraths office. After long negotiations with the other Government Departments, they have not been able to find a path to the additional annual funding we had requested.

“However, we are grateful that they were able to raise a one off €60k to provide a short period of stability while we look at how we can re-structure IDS.”

The society also went on to add that it would be commencing a 30-day staff consultation period as part of a collective redundancy process, with five or more jobs at risk.

“Over the next month we will work with staff to try and reduce those risks so that we can continue as many services as possible after we re-structure.

“Although there is some risk for the whole organisation, the biggest risk is to our Advocacy service which has no funding after May.

“We are confident that the IDS will not have to close completely, but to achieve that we will need to reduce expenses and try and increase our fundraising. Over the coming years the charity shops will be an important part of that income,” it reads.

The Irish Deaf Society’s full statement, along with an Irish Sign Language video version, can be found on their official website.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and makes the occasional video about deaf awareness on his YouTube channel. He can also be found talking about disability, politics, theatre, books and music on his Twitter, or on his website.