It is a brave venture in these times to launch a new newspaper. It is even braver to launch one in a language that the majority of Irish people are unfortunately, not fluent in.

That has not deterred the folks at Gaelsceal. a new weekly publication which literally mean Irish news, which was launched on friday in Ireland.

You can see it on line at gaelsceal.ie and it makes for a very handsome production and a very interesting read.It is based in County Galway and comes out weekly and carries an amazing amount of "scealta" news stories from all over Ireland

I'm not entirely unbiased. I have written a column in my native tongue for the newspaper, the first I have ever penned. It felt good to "Bi ag scriobh as Gaelige " (writing in Irish) after thirty years writing "as Bearla" (in English)

Although thirty years out of Ireland the wonder of reading and hearing the native tongue still inspires me . It is as if the ancestral voices can be heard for the first time. For over 3,000 years forms of Gaeilige (Irish) were the lingua franca. Only after the Famine did the language die--and now it is back.

These days there is a major revival, a successful television and radio station, a huge all Irish language school movement and now a newspaper. It is wonderful to see and speaks to a younger generation who have none of the hangups of my era about learning and speaking the mother tongue.

Go on to the website whether you speak Gaelic or not. It will inspire you too.