Foras na Gaeilge has begun a new campaign to introduce members of staff to the public. We would like to introduce Sinéad Nic Gearailt!

Area: I work with the Communications, Marketing & Awareness sector under the direction of my manager, Anna Davitt. I work with the Arts sector under the direction of Eilís Ní Bheilbigh.

Venue: Amiens Street office, Dublin

Role: The duties I have include working with an internal social media working group to plan and create materials to publicise the organisation. As part of this work I update the social media pages daily and take minutes at meetings. I source stories in Irish and English to publicise on Gaeilge.ie daily. To publish and update material on Gaeilge.ie and ForasnaGaeilge.ie, I source and adapt images. There is research to be done to see the development of these sites, on Google Analytics. I regularly contact staff members, members of other organisations and members of the public.

I attend different events during the year, for example Grad Ireland, Zeminar, Oireachtas na Samhna and An Gúm events. I speak with pupils, teachers and parents about the opportunities available to young people in the sector, and give out organisation resources, such as notebooks, pens, earphones and more.

Once a year Comórtas Beo is to be organised. The competition is publicised in schools, libraries, in education centres and on social media. When applications come to us, there is a decision to be made which songs should be sent through to the final round. All the candidates are to be contacted, as well as representatives from lead organisations who take part in the competition. The event is discussed with the presenter and adjudicators beforehand. I organise documents, prizes and arrangements for the final competition itself.

What aspect of the work do you most enjoy?: Once a year Foras na Gaeilge organises a competition for second level pupils, Comórtas Beo. Candidates write songs and record them. There is a mixture of groups and singers in the final and the adjudicators select a winner. I really enjoy seeing the talent of young people in this country. I really enjoy other events organised during the year as well, e.g. Grad Ireland, Zeminar, An Gúm events and more. There is a lot of interest in Irish apparent and I love to be mixing with people to develop that interest. 

How does your work support the promotion of the Irish language?: My work is connected with providing material to people who are interested in Irish, and communicating with them. I look after updating forasnagaeilge.ie whenever new material is to be shared. I also have the opportunity to speak with young people about the opportunities available to them in the sector. They don’t always know about the organisations that are working for the Irish language, or about the progress made by Irish language media and in translation.