Global Ireland Media Challenge Fund: Terms of Reference

Ireland’s Strategy ‘Global Ireland: Ireland’s Global Footprint to 2025’ is a whole-of-Government strategy aimed at doubling the scope, influence and impact of Ireland in the world. As part of this, it states that a programme for engagement “will be developed and implemented to communicate on a continuing basis to our citizens at home and overseas Ireland’s long-term international policy objectives.”

In this context, the Department of Foreign Affairs established the Global Ireland Media Challenge Fund. The Fund was initially established on a pilot basis, and following a review was continued for a further two years. The initiative will be reviewed at the end of this period.

The objective of the fund is to support the provision of information about major geo-political developments and the changing nature of Ireland’s role in the world, to the public in Ireland, by helping build the capacity of Irish media outlets to undertake international reporting, while maintaining editorial independence.

A core principle of the Global Ireland Media Challenge Fund is editorial independence. Accordingly, following the allocation of funding to organisations to support their coverage of international issues, the Department of Foreign Affairs does not direct the organisations in terms of the projects selected, the tone of the coverage, or the allocation of staff to carry out this work.

Applicant organisations are invited to submit proposals via the application form, describing the work that they plan to undertake to increase the scale and scope of their international reporting using the requested funding. Proposals may focus on the development of thematic and/or geographically based content.

The factors to be taken into account in assessing applications will include:

• Quality of proposal
• Track record of the organisation and relevant expertise
• Reach and scope of the organisation
• Ability to deliver to a wide audience as well as specific audiences
• Themes, sectors, and regions which have hitherto been lightly covered in Ireland and/or have been covered primarily by utilising news agency and/or 3rd parties
• Value for money

Funding will only be provided to media organisations with a presence in Ireland, and the scale of operation that would enable them to deliver on the objectives of the Fund will be taken into consideration.

An Expert Advisory Panel, comprised of external media professionals will advise on the merits of the proposals and the extent to which they adhere to the terms of reference and objectives of the Fund. An Evaluation Committee will then evaluate all applications and ensure transparency and accountability in decision making.

Applications will only be accepted during the application window and will be assessed following the closure of that window. The results of successful applications will be published on gov.ie as soon as practicable thereafter, following formal agreement between DFA and applicant organisations.

Successful media organisations will be obligated to submit reports detailing outputs under the initiative. Check-in meetings will be held to discuss progress throughout the term. A final meeting will be held at the end of the funding period and a summary of final reports and the work of each organisation funded through the initiative will be published on gov.ie at the end of the respective funding period. All successful applicants will be required to publish notice that they are in receipt of funding through the initiative.

All enquires related to the Global Ireland Media Challenge Fund should be addressed to GIUMediaChallenge@dfa.ie

Footnote: 1. Global Ireland: Ireland’s Global Footprint to 2025 - Irelands_Global_Footprint_to_2025.pdf