The Big World of Irish – new campaign launched to engage childrenwith the opportunities that learning Irish can provide
Informed by the concerns addressed by An Gréasán in itsopen letter to the then Minister of Education, Michelle McIlveen, on the 7th ofOctober 2021, a new campaign has been launched in order to capture theimagination of young people and inspire them to engage with the Irish Language.The launch event took place in Aonach Mhacha, Armagh City.
Domhan Mór na Gaeilge - The Big World of Irish - is acampaign response devised by Gael Linn and the Creative WorkerCooperative LTD, funded by Foras na Gaeilge, on behalf of AnGréasán to address the concerns outlined by An Gréasán. Correspondenceoutlining these concerns can be found at following link: https://bit.ly/DMnaG3
Domhan Mór Na Gaeilge - The Big World of Irish - is acharacter-driven campaign which aims to connect with young children and theirparents. The character Bricriú will capture the imagination of young people andinspire them to engage more with the Irish Language. The Big World of Irishaims to reframe many of the misperceptions of Irish and convey Irish as a flourishingand developing language which opens up many opportunities.
Domhan Mór na Gaeilge aims to increase attendance atGaeltacht Colleges and increase uptake of the Irish Language at GCSE level.
The campaign also aims to raise awareness among stakeholdersand decision makers, Teachers, Careers Advisors about the Irish language andits benefits. The Campaign is aimed at children and their Parents at a keydecision-making point in their lives, namely those around the age of 10-12years as they leave primary school. Workshops identified this age as a primeopportunity to raise awareness about the Irish Language as an attractive optionas they begin to consider their education and their choice of subjects as theyenter secondary education. The campaign seeks to promote the Irish Language as abeneficial addition to a child’s academic toolkit.
Domhan Mór na Gaeilge also highlights that currentlythere is no strategy for languages in Education in Northern Ireland with adraft strategy on the shelf for almost a decade.
The Video animations canbe found at the following link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNZZAqrMZ_zDKu6ytU7CN0QE-rMP4JW1m
For more information, please contact Séamas Mac Eochaidh(Educational Policy Officer with Gael Linn) at 07923 444 890
About Gael Linn
Gael Linn was established in 1953. The main aim of theorganisation is to nurture and promote the Irish language and its heritagethroughout Ireland in policy and community areas, as a living language and as animportant part of our identity. Gael Linn's activities relate to three mainareas; the field of education, activities to support the use of Irish and thebusiness area of the organization. www.gael-linn.ie