Linking the economic viability of the Gaeltacht to the advancement of the Irish language, the Language interest group “Cill Dara le Gaeilge” is leading efforts in County Kildare to support businesses that operate in Gaelic.
Linguists have long recognized the importance of the use of threatened languages in commerce as one of the elements leading to language revitalization.
“County Kildare has been recognized as having the fastest growing Irish-speaking population in the country. It now has eight Irish medium schools. The county also hosts Irish-medium pre-schools, community groups, youth clubs and summer camps. According to the 2011 national census, there are now over 35,000 Co. Kildare residents who speak Irish regularly. “ Advancing the use of Gaelic in local commerce serves to strengthen Irish as skills in the tongue leads to employemnt security
“Cill Dara le Gaeilge” is a scheme focused on promoting business through the Irish language in County Kildare. The objective of the scheme is to provide information and support to businesses that wish to provide services to their customers in the Irish language.
Established in 2017, Cill Dara le Gaeilge aims to support businesses in County Kildare that wish to conduct business through the medium of Irish. Many businesses in the area have expressed an interest in using Irish as a language of communication with the public.
The Kildare Nationalist is reporting that the board of directors of Cill Dara le Gaeilge announced last week its intention to become the lead organisation for the greater Naas / Sallins area efforts for the advancement of the Irish language in local business.
“Cill Dara le Gaeilge will be applying to Foras na Gaeilge under the Scéim Pobal na Gaeilge (Irish Language Community Scheme) on behalf of the Sallins / Naas area when that scheme reopens this year. “It’s time for full-time employees to work for the development of the Irish language in the area,” says Daithí de Faoite, Cathaoirleach of Cill Dara le Gaeilge. “An application from County Kildare under the Irish Language Community Scheme has yet to be successful but Cill Dara le Gaeilge now has a comprehensive plan to recruit employees and to support community groups in the area who are organising events through the medium of Irish as soon as we are accepted into the scheme.”
In 2019 Kildare became the first county in Ireland to publish an Irish language plan with a clear vision, specific objectives, structure and a list of actions to progress the language in the coming years. The range of the plan is from January 2019 to December 2023.
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