Creidim Ionat (I Believe In You), the Foras na Gaeilge initiative in partnership with RTÉ, wrapped earlier this month after a successful campaign, with all the highlights available to watch here. The fruits of the mentorship team’s successful Irish language goals are now available for the public to enjoy, in the form of Brendan Courtney and David O’Reilly’s bi-lingual podcast episode of ‘Any News’, available here and The 2 Johnnies’ as Gaeilge performance of ‘When I Play for the County‘, available here.
As the organisation responsible for the promotion of the Irish language on the island of Ireland, Foras na Gaeilge is elated with the level of engagement, participation and support this year’s campaign received. The campaign launched live on RTÉ television on St. Patrick’s Day 2024, encouraging everyone with an interest in Irish to sign up to classes and follow the mentors’ journeys from 8th April. As well as mentoring Brendan and David, broadcaster and presenter, Sinéad Ní Uallacháin also ventured into the community to visit groups mentoring eachother as part of Creidim Ionat. Her travels took her to Chnoc Liamhna (Knocklyon), where Irish language choir, ‘As Béal a Chéile’, mentored the ‘Ukrainian Action Choir‘ to perform a rendition of ‘Óró Sé Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile’ together. Watch their performance here and how the two groups supported each other along the way here and here.
Also taking part in the campaign were The 2 Johnnies, who were mentored by radio producer and presenter, Aindriú De Paor, to record their hit single ‘When I Play for the County’ entirely as Gaeilge. Throughout the month of June, Foras na Gaeilge will be sharing the ‘Nuair a Imreoidh Mé don Chontae’ video with every Irish medium school, college and camp on the island with accompanying lesson plans as resource to help students engage with the Irish language on a real level.
Thousands of people took part in the campaign, signing up for the newsletter and following along the journeys of the campaign’s leading mentors and mentees, availing of Irish classes with Gael Linn and Gaelchultúr, and following the learning programme laid out on the Foras na Gaeilge website. The campaign resulted in a total media reach of 23 million. Foras na Gaeilge also had an 86% increase on newsletter signups and an increase of 63% on website traffic with visitors from 129 countries.
Niamh Ní Churnáin, Group Head of Irish, RTÉ, said, “RTÉ was delighted to once again partner with Foras na Gaeilge on this very important and worthwhile initiative. I salute the courage of Brendan, David, The 2 Johnnies and the community groups who took on this commitment to the Irish language. I would also like to thank Sinéad and Aindriú for being fantastic mentors to our willing mentees. It proves that with a bit of support and a specific goal, anyone can improve their Irish. The campaign may be over, but the message remains for everyone who wants to learn the cúpla focal – choose and follow a Creidim Ionat mentee. I hope this encourages you all to keep going and to use the resources on the Creidim Ionat website – if they can do it, so can you!”
Anna Davitt, Marketing and Communications Manager, Foras na Gaeilge said, “Foras na Gaeilge is so pleased to see how Creidim Ionat has encouraged people to register for Irish language classes, online events and resources for all levels with our partners Gael Linn and Gaelchultúr. We would like to congratulate Brendan Courtney, David O’Reilly and the 2 Johnnies for their commitment and success in achieving their Creidim Ionat goals under the guidance of Aindriú de Paor and Sinéad Ní Uallacháin. We’re very much looking forward to sharing ‘Nuair a Imreoidh Mé don Chontae’ with schools and summer camps now! We were most proud to work with Ukrainian Action Choir on their journey to learn and perform ‘Óró Sé Do ‘Bheatha Abhaile’ under the mentorship of Máire Nuinseann and As Béal a Chéile choir. Their journey really highlights what can be achieved when we extend a helping hand to pass on our language through a shared passion.”