Creidim Ionat seolta!
Well-known personalities back new campaign to encourage use of the Irish language in everyday life. Foras na Gaeilge and RTÉ are proud to present Creidim Ionat, an innovative and collaborative online initiative aimed at nurturing widespread awareness and everyday use of Irish.
About the Campaign
Creidim Ionat, a Foras na Gaeilge initiative, calls on anyone and everyone with an interest in Irish to Pick a partner and agree a goal. It is hoped that fluent Irish-speakers will reach out to someone they know and help them on their Irish-language journey. Equally, anyone who wishes to engage or re-engage with Irish can pick a fluent partner, either through social media or in person, to get started on their journey to everyday Irish. The goals can be as simple as using some new phrases, learning a song as Gaeilge, or reading an Irish-language book. Foras na Gaeilge says: If you are an Irish speaker, consider putting yourself forward as a mentor on social media with the aim of supporting a mentee to achieve a language goal.
Creidim Ionat ar RTÉ
Creidim Ionat (I believe in you) is a mentor-led campaign, and the RTÉ strand will be anchored by RTÉ Beo ar Éigean hosts, Áine Ní Bhreisleáin, Sinéad Ní Uallacháin and Siún Ní Dhuinn.
Each RTÉ mentor will coach one of three well-known personalities: Michael Fry (Comedian), Marty Morrissey (RTÉ Presenter & Commentator) and Marissa Carter (Founder and CEO of Carter Beauty), in order to achieve a personal language goal.
RTÉ’s Beo ar Éigean presenter Sinéad Ní Uallacháin will mentor Marty Morrissey, helping him to gain the fluency he needs to deliver one of this year’s GAA-GPA All-Star football awards as Gaeilge. RTÉ, RnaG and Beo ar Éigean presenter Áine Ní Bhreisleáin will mentor Michael Fry to help him to achieve his long time goal of doing an online comedy sketch as Gaeilge. Finally, Siún Ní Dhuinn will mentor Marissa Carter to do a make-up tutorial as Gaeilge live on RTÉ One television on the Today show. The public will follow their journeys online as the Beo ar Éigean mentors guide their mentees to their Irish-language goal.
Anna Davitt, Communications Manager of Foras na Gaeilge:
“Foras na Gaeilge is very proud to have the backing of RTÉ and RTÉ Beo ar Éigean broadcasters/mentors, Áine, Sinéad and Siún. Creidim Ionat mentees, Michael and Marissa, represent many of us who had fluency in Irish at some life stage, but wish to regain confidence, or like Marty, who would simply like to use some Irish in everyday life. We believe their goals and journeys will resonate with many as we provide the guidance and tools to help them along. These include some very popular Irish language social events such as a Pop-Up Gaeltacht in Dublin and Oireachtas na Samhna, the largest Irish language annual festival, held in Killarney this November. We look forward to sharing our wealth of resources, online tools, supports and practical tips with anyone who wishes to use more Irish.”
Niamh Ní Churnáin, Group Head of Irish Language, RTÉ:
“Those of us who live and work through Irish everyday are keenly aware that so many people aspire to use Irish, or to get closer to the language. That’s an ambition we keenly support in RTÉ and this campaign offers a wonderful opportunity for fluent speakers to reach out and spread the cúpla focal, as well as offering anyone who wishes to use more Irish day to day the opportunity to partner-up and re-start their Irish- language journey. I invite anyone, fluent, beginner or lapsed, to register now at www.forasnagaeilge.ie, and get started. If this is something you’ve been thinking about doing, Creidim Ionat could be just what you were looking for.”
Follow #CreidimIonat to follow the progress of mentors and mentees and to share your own journey and goal.
Register now at www.forasnagaeilge.ie for our newsletter so that we can support you on your journey with news, tips and resources (and to win one of our Creidim Ionat goody bags!).