Three well-known figures from the world of radio broadcasting, rugby and social media have been named as ambassadors ahead of this year’s Seachtain na Gaeilge, Ireland’s annual festival celebrating the Irish language.
RTÉ Radio's Cormac Ó hEadhra, Ireland women's rugby international Sene Naoupu and Tiktok star Séaghan Ó Súilleabháin were named at an event in Dublin marking the launch of the festival which celebrates it's 120th year this year.
The ambassadors will promote the language over the course of the two-week Energia-sponsored festival which runs from March 1st to 17th and organisers estimate that this year’s festival will feature some 30,000 events.
Speaking at the programme launch in Dublin on Tuesday, Cormac Ó hEadhra said it was “important to celebrate the language” and the communities that speak it. He also said Irish could also be used as a platform to celebrate difference in Irish society.
“In 2022 in Ireland I think that it is really important that we celebrate the language as a platform to see difference and celebrate difference,” he said.
“I think that is one of the reasons why we are so welcoming as a society, why we respect difference and why we have seen that manifest itself through various votes and various policy changes in Ireland in the last number of years.
“I think we know difference, we see difference, we celebrate difference, partly because of that,” he added.
Natural step
Ireland women’s rugby union international Sene Naoupu was introduced to Irish through her involvement with rugby. Naoupu, who speaks Samoan, English and Japanese, said learning Irish was a natural step for her to take after she and her husband moved to Ireland.
“When we first moved to the west of Ireland we thought that it was really important to immerse ourselves in the culture and traditions of Irish people so that we could understand the history and, I suppose, get a sense of belonging and connection to the community.”
“We went from there. My team-mates and my colleagues and friends speak Irish. It gave me a sense of pride of their Irish identity as well, so I just naturally wanted to learn the language.”
Confidence
Séaghan Ó Súilleabháin, who goes by the name @KerryCowboy on social media platform Tiktok, said it was important to him to use the platform to promote Irish.
“I’m lucky enough to have a good enough platform in the media at the moment,” he said.
“A lot of young people are watching and I think it is important, when I have Irish and that it is such a large part of my life, that I do something to promote it and let people see it on the platform they are looking at.”
Having the confidence to speak Irish in public is “a big issue with people,” Ó Súilleabháin said.
He said people worry about the grammar and about making mistakes but his advice to them is “nobody is going to eat you” for making mistakes.
“If you get it wrong, you get it wrong!”
“It’s about getting the language out there, using it, that’s how you learn. Nobody’s perfect - I make mistakes all the time but I just speak away. Beatha teanga í a labhairt! (the life of a language is to speak it).
Groups can register their events for Seachtain na Gaeilge le Energia at peig.ie.
* This article was amended on February 16th 2022
