Foras Gaeilge is delighted to announce that there will be more than 80 summer camps running throughout the island from now until the end of the summer. The Summer Camps Scheme 2017, which was announced earlier this year, will give young people between 3 and 18 years of age the opportunity to attend sports, drama, dancing, music and filming activities as well as trips. Grants to the value of €168,346, a maximum of €2,500 or £1,750 each, have been approved for 82 camps this year.

These camps will give a unique and fun experience to children to speak Irish in an enjoyable environment in their own area. There will be some new camps running for the first time this year which will run events through the medium of Irish in completely new areas of interest, including beekeeping and interaction with farm animals and country life.

Foras na Gaeilge CEO, Seán Ó Coinn, said, “This time last year we were announcing our regret that Foras na Gaeilge could not cater for the demand for summer camps. Although the number of camps qualifying under the scheme increased in 2016, we did not have an adequate budget to support them all and we had to refuse 23 of those requests. Therefore I am very happy that this is not the case this year and that grants have been approved for the 82 camps that qualified for the scheme. I have no doubt that the camps will have a positive impact on the use of Irish in different areas from west Belfast to Cork City, and that their experience will stand to the 3,500 children who will be attending the camps this year.”

To find a summer camp in your area visit www.peig.ie, the information hub for the Irish language, and search summer camps on the interactive map or in the activities directory.

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Note to the editor:

Visits from the media to 2017 summer camps

• Foras na Gaeilge will be facilitating visits from the media to the summer camps and there is a full list available for each county. Contact details are available below.

PEIG.ie

• peig.ie is the only website which promotes Irish language activities around the country and the world. You can register your own events on the site or search events in your own area. The site is maintained by Conradh na Gaeilge.

Further Information:

Anna Davitt, Programme Manager: Communications, Marketing & Awareness, Foras na Gaeilge

Tel: 0035387 673 6175    

Email: adavitt@forasnagaeilge.ie