Galway City Council has launched a new initiative designed to encourage conversation and engagement ‘trí Gaeilge’ in City Hall. Staff and Elected Members wearing a lanyard featuring icons of Galway City and the phrase “Tá Gaeilge agam”, are showing in a simple and visible way that they are open to engaging in Irish – with both fluent speakers and those with a cúpla focail taking part. The initiative encourages the everyday use of Irish across the organisation and supports the Galway City Council Irish Language Scheme to ensure that those seeking provision of services in Irish in Galway City Council are facilitated.
Deputy Mayor of the City of Galway, Cllr Alan Cheevers, said at the launch, “This initiative is about visibility, confidence, and creating natural opportunities to use Irish in everyday interactions, whether fluent speakers, or those who haven’t had a chance to use their Gaeilge since they left school. That might mean a full conversation through Gaeilge, or a simple ‘Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú’ when you meet someone in the corridor. As we begin a new year, the lanyards offer a fresh and positive way for staff and Elected Members to show their grá for Gaeilge and help make the language a more natural part of daily life in City Hall.”
Marcus Ó Conaire, Irish Officer, Galway City Council, “This initiative is a small but meaningful step towards meeting our Irish language obligations and commitments, particularly in terms of visibility and service delivery. It helps to create an environment where Gaeilge feels natural, recognised, and supported across the organisation. Our aim, here in Galway City and right across the public sector, is to ensure that Irish speakers can access services as Gaeilge with confidence. Initiatives like this make that goal more visible and more achievable in our day‑to‑day work.”
The launch was attended by members of the Galway City Council sub-Strategic Policy Committee for Gaeilge, Staff with Gaeilge, including those who had participated in Irish classes over the past year, and a visiting delegation of Gaeilge officers from Mayo, Donegal, Sligo and Galway County Councils.
Galway City Council hopes the launch of the “Tá Gaeilge agam” lanyards will inspire more informal Irish-language conversations across the organisation and encourage staff of all levels to take part. In turn, customers seeking to do their business through Gaeilge will find receptive staff, open to engaging as Gaeilge, in City Hall.
Gaeilge is the first official language of Ireland, and under the Official Languages Act, public bodies have a number of duties regarding the provision of services in Irish, and the rights of the public to avail of those services. Under the Official Languages Act, 20% of staff in the public sector/ civil service must be ‘competent’ in the Irish language by 2030.
Galway City has a particularly special relationship with Gaeilge - Galway is a bilingual city, with two large Gaeltacht areas - in Knocknacarra, and An Bruach Thoir, comprising Terryland, Coolagh, Menlo, Ballindooley, Ballinfoyle, Parkmore and parts of Castlegar. Galway City is also a ‘Gaeltacht Service Town’ – which is a town located in or near a Gaeltacht language planning area, that provides services and amenities to the Gaeltacht community. Galway City has a significant number Irish speakers, with 32,708 people who could speak Irish, recorded in the 2022 Census.
