Current state of Gaeltacht areas examined in a new series for TG4

Are the 17,000 daily speakers who remain in the Gaeltacht enough to save the Gaeltacht? What do these communities need in order for them to be released from the chains in which they find themselves?

A new series for TG4, Gaeltacht 2020, presented by journalist Eibhlín Ní Chonghaile, a resident of Ballina, takes a look at the current state of the Gaeltacht.

Produced by Aniar TV, the series will explore what An Ghaeltacht means in 2020. What are the issues which trouble the communities? Why do Gaeltacht regions remain the most impoverished rural areas in the county? What role does the Gaeltacht hold in saving itself and what are the State measures in relation to the Gaeltacht?

In the first programme of the series Eibhlín gets an insight into employment in the Gaeltacht in 2020. What are the sustainable jobs agus what are the sectors which could be developed? Eibhlín stays in Mayo as she meets with Ciarán Ó Murchú of Coláiste Uisce, who explains how he turned the business around from making a loss of €20,000 the first year to reinventing and bringing €2m to the local economy each summer.

Eibhlín also heads to Donegal where she meets with Dr. Ciarán Richardson from Randox Teoranta, a company which switched from manufacturing to now providing investment in research and development. The approach Randox has adopted demonstrates that high quality jobs can be created agus maintained in Gaeltacht regions.

Eibhlín meets with Emer Ní Mhurchú in Uíbh Ráthach. Emer believes that without people there won't be a language and she is worried about her own region as 81 of the townlands there are now deserted.

The second programme of the series focuses on significant issues which have been at the forefront for many years - a lack of basic health services, planning difficulties for Gaeltacht communities and the need for public services.

Eibhlín meets Dáithí de Mórdha and Treasa Ní Mhainnín in Corca Dhuibhne, both of whom have been seeking planning permission on the peninsula for years. She meets with the community in An Rinn, a community which are kick-starting their own housing scheme, the first of its kind in a Gaeltacht region.

The issue of the Gaeltacht boundaries as they stand in 2020 will be discussed. “It's time for us now to be realistic about the state of the Gaeltacht because unless we are, it will be very difficult for us to address the linguistic difficulties within the Gaeltacht regions,” Donncha Ó hÉallaithe told her.

Professor Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh stated: “It's not a language plan that's needed but a plan to save and regenerate and a language community.”

What are the answers to all the questions posed? Eibhlín examines what the future holds for the Gaeltacht in 2020 and beyond in this series over two nights, beginning on Wednesday, April 22, and continuing again on Wednesday, April 29, at 9.30 p.m. on TG4.