Gréasán Gaeilge na hEarnála Poiblí, the Public Sector - Irish Language Network , aims to bring together public sector employees interested in learning and developing their Irish language skills.
The new Irish language network was launched by Ireland's Minister of State for the Gaeltacht, Sport and Physical Education, Thomas Byrne T.D., at Farleigh House in Phoenix Park, Dublin on July 11.
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Ireland's Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media said that given the increase seen in the number of people undertaking Irish language training courses in the public sector in recent times, the launch and establishment of this network is closely aligned with the wishes of those participants for increased language acquisition opportunities outside the classroom.
The network gives a formal basis to the creation of Irish language-speaking opportunities for those in the public sector who wish to develop, maintain, or use their Irish in the context of work - from learners up to advanced competence and everything in between.
This network welcomes civil servants, public sector employees in general, professional/technical grades such as doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, legal advisers, and other roles such as Gardaí Síochána, bus drivers, and others.
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Speaking at the launch, Minister of State Byrne said: "First off, I would like to congratulate Oireachtas na Gaeilge for their commitment to the State's vision in strengthening the language in the public system and for all the hard work they have done since the end of last year towards launching this network.
"The main message I want to convey here tonight is that this is a welcoming, inclusive and diverse network. Whatever your level of competence, from basic level up to advanced, you are welcome to register with the network so that you can use, develop and sustain that level of competence.
"This network is a central element in the Government's efforts to increase support for learners and speakers of Irish across the public sector in the coming years - especially in the context of our work under the Official Languages Acts 2003-2021 and increasing the number of people with Irish language competence in the system.
"It is worth noting that 50% of circa 35,000 state employees who took part in a recent survey indicated that they would be interested in increasing their Irish language competence.
"I am also interested in the 23% who indicated in the same survey that they would be interested in working through Irish with additional training/supports, together with the 5% who said they were already working through Irish or would be interested in working through Irish without additional training/supports.
"This clearly demonstrates to me the great opportunity we have to empower people both inside and outside public organisations to increase their language skills over the coming years."
Minister of State Byrne also launched a dedicated website for the network, which can be found at GreasanGaeilge.ie, together with a registration portal.
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